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Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  185V, 

BY  GEORGE  P.  PUTNAM, 

the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


I3ILLIN  &  BROTHERS, 

10    NORTH  WILLIAM-ST.,   N.  T. 


JOHN  F.  TROW,  PRINTER, 

4'.'  ANN-STKEET. 


MEETING  IN  THE  CITY  HALL,  SEPTEMBER  25,  1851. 

HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  OCTOBER  7,  1851. 
MEETING  IN  METROPOLITAN  HALL,  FEBRUARYS,  1852. 


011  %  pfe  mtir  (Seitius  0f  toper, 

BY  WILLIAM  CULLEN   BRYANT. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER, 

PRESIDING  AT  THE  MEETING  HELD  IN  METROPOLITAN  HALL  ; 


JOHN  W.  FRANCIS, 
GEORGE  BANCROFT, 
GEORGE  W.  BETHUNE, 


G.  P.  R.  JAMES, 
FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS, 
SAMUEL  OSGOOD. 


fttttrs  tarn 


WASHINGTON  IRVING, 
WILLIAM  C.  BRYANT, 
GEORGE  W.  DOANE, 
JAMES  K.  PATJLDING, 
G.  P.  R.  JAMES, 
GEORGE  BANCROFT, 
EDWARD  EVERETT, 
CHARLES  JARED  INGERSOLL, 
JAMES  E.  DE  KAY, 
FRANCIS  LIEBER, 
LEWIS  CASS, 
RICHARD  RUSH, 
HENRY  REED. 
JAMES  HALL, 
HERMAN  MELVILLE, 


WILLIAM  H.  PRESCOTT. 
RICHARD  H.  DANA, 
RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON, 
NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE, 
CHARLES  SUMNER, 
HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW. 
FRANCIS  PARKMAN, 
FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS, 
ALFRED  B.  STREET, 
SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE, 
WILLIAM  GILMORE  SIMMS, 
JOHN  P.  KENNEDY, 
JOHN  R.  THOMPSON. 
CHARLES  G.  LELAND, 
JOHN  W.  FRANCIS. 


prospectus  of  tfjc  Cooper  iHonumrnt  'Sssortatton. 


M285974 


PUBLIC  HONOURS  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  MR,  COOPER, 
§ii  tlje  fittj  nf 


AT  a  meeting  of  friends  of  the  late  JAMES  FENIMORE  COOPER, 
held  in  the  City  Hall,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  pursuant  to 
notice,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1851,  WASHINGTON  IRVING 
in  the  Chair,  and  FITZ-GREENE  HALLECK  and  RUFUS  W.  GRIS- 
WOLD,  Secretaries,  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  a 
Committee  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  a  suitable 
demonstration  of  respect  for  Mr.  Cooper's  memory  : 

WASHINGTON  IRVING,  FITZ-GREENE  HALLECK,  CHARLES  F.  BRIGGS. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD,  MAUNSELL  B.  FIELD, 

JOHN  DUER,  CHARLES  KING,  PARKE  GODWIN, 

JAMES  K.  PAULDING,  GEORGE  BANCROFT,  JONA.  M.  WAINWRIGHT, 

JOHN   W.  FRANCIS,  LEWIS  GAYLORD  CLARK,  DONALD  G.  MITCHELL, 

RICHARD  B.  KIMBALL,  JOHN  A.  DIX,  GEO.  P.  PUTNAM, 

FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS,  GEORGE  P.  MORRIS,  N.  P.  WILLIS, 

WILLIAM  C.  BRYANT,  SAMUEL  OSGOOD,  J.  G.  COGSWELL, 

WILLIAM  W.  CAMPBELL,  CHARLES  ANTHON,  J.  STARBUCK  MAYO. 

At  this  meeting  the  following  letters  were  read : 

From  Washington  Irving. 

SUNNYSIDE,  Thursday,  Sept.  18,  1851. 

My  Dear  Sir : — The  death  of  Fenimore  Cooper,  though  anticipated, 
is  an  event  of  deep  and  public  concern,  and  calls  for  the  highest  expres 
sion  of  public  sensibility.  To  me  it  comes  with  something  of  a  shock  ; 
for  it  seems  but  the  other  day  that  I  saw  him  at  our  common  literary 
resort  at  Putnam's,  in  full  vigour  of  mind  and  body,  a  very  "  castle  of  a 
man,"  and  apparently  destined  to  outlive  me,  who  am  several  years  his 
senior.  He  has  left  a  space  in  our  literature  which  will  not  easily  be 

supplied I  shall  not  fail  to  attend  the  proposed  meeting  on 

Wednesday  next.  Very  respectfully,  your  friend  and  servant, 

WASHINGTON  IRVING. 
REV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD. 


8  T  H  E     M  E  M  O  K  V     OK     COOPER. 

From-  William  C.  Bryant. 

ROCHESTER,  Friday,  Sept.  19,  1851. 

My  Dear  Sir :— I  am  sorry  that  the  arrangements  for  my  journey  to 
the  West  are  such  that  I  cannot  be  present  at  the  meeting  which  is 
about  to  be  held  to  do  honour  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Cooper,  on  losing 
whom  not  only  the  country,  but  the  civilized  world  and  the  age  in  which 
we  live,  have  lost  one  of  their  most  illustrious  ornaments.  It  is  melan 
choly  to  think  that  it  is  only  until  such  men  are  in  their  graves  that  full 
justice  is  done  to  their  merit.  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  concur  in  any 
step  which  may  be  taken  to  express,  in  a  public  manner,  our  respect  for 
the  character  of  one  to  whom  we  were  too  sparing  of  public  distinctions 
in  his  lifetime,  and  beg  that  I  may  be  included  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
occasion  as  if  I  were  present.  I  am,  very  respectfully,  yours, 

WM.  C.  BRYANT. 
REV.  R.  W.  GUISWOLD. 

From  Bishop  Doane. 

RIVERSIDE,  Tuesday,  Sept.  22,  1851. 

My  Dear  Sir  : — . ...  I  beg  you  to  say,  generally,  in  your  discretion, 
that  I  yield  to  no  one  who  will  be  present,  in  my  estimate  of  the  distin 
guished  talents  and  admirable  services  of  Mr.  Cooper,  or  in  my  readi 
ness  to  do  the  highest  honour  to  his  illustrious  memory.  His  name 
must  ever  find  a  place  among  the  "  household  words"  of  all  our  hearts ; 
a  name  as  beautiful  for  its  blamelessness  of  life,  as  it  is  eminent  for  its 
attainments  in  letters,  which  has  subordinated  to  the  higher  interests  of 
patriotism  and  piety,  the  fervours  of  fancy  and  the  fascinations  of 
romance.  Very  faithfully,  your  friend  and  servant, 

G.  W.  DOANE. 
REV.  RUFUS  W.  Gttiswoi.D. 


From  James  K.  Paulding. 

HYDE  PARK,  Sept.  23,  1851. 

My  Dear  Sir: — You  will  state  the  reason  of  my  absence, 

at  the  same  time  giving  assurance  of  my  cordial  co-operation 

in  any  tribute  they  may  offer  to  the  memory  of  one  who  occupied  so 
high  a  place  among  the  distinguished  authors  of  the  age,  and  whose 
many  estimable  qualities  merited  the  sincere  regard  of  all  who  knew 
him.  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  K.  PAULDING. 
RKV.  I)K.  GRISWOI.D. 


MEETING     AT     THE     CITY     HALL. 

From  G.  P.  R.  James. 

STOCKBRIDGE,  Mass.,  2Sd  Sept.,  1851. 

Dear  Doctor  Griswold: — I  regret  extremely  that  it  will  not  be  in 
my  power  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  to  testify  respect  for  the  memory 
of  Mr.  Cooper.  I  grieve  sincerely  that  so  eminent  a  man  is  lost  to  the 
country  and  the  world ;  and  though  unacquainted  with  him  personally, 
I  need  hardly  tell  you  how  highly  his  abilities  as  an  author,  and  his 
character,  were  appreciated  by  Yours  faithfully, 

G.  P.  R.  JAMES. 

from  Mr.  Bancroft. 
NEWPORT,  R.  I,  Thursday,  Sept.  18,  1851. 

My  Dear  Sir : — I  heartily  sympathize  with  the  design  of  a  public 
tribute  to  the  genius,  manly  character,  and  great  career  of  the  illustri 
ous  man  whose  loss  we  deplore.  Others  have  combined  very  high  merit 
as  authors,  with  professional  pursuits.  Mr.  Cooper  wras,  of  those  who 
have  gone  from  among  us,  the  first  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  let 
ters.  We  must  admire  the  noble  courage  with  which  he  entered  on  a 
course  which  none  before  him  had  tried  ;  the  glory  which  he  justly  won 
was  reflected  on  his  country,  of  whose  literary  independence  he  was  the 
pioneer,  and  deserves  the  grateful  recognition  of  all  who  survive  him. 

By  the  time  proposed  for  the  meeting,  I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able  to 
return  to  New  York ;  but  you  may  use  my  name  in  any  manner  that 
shall  strongly  express  my  delight  in  the  writings  of  our  departed  friend, 
my  thorough  respect  for  his  many  virtues,  and  my  sense  of  that  surpass 
ing  ability  which  has  made  his  own  name  and  the  names  of  the  crea 
tions  of  his  fancy,  household  words  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
I  remain,  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

GEORGE  BANCROFT. 
REV.  R.  W.  GRISAVOLD. 

From  Mr.  Everett. 

CAMBRIDGE,  Sept.  23,  1851. 

Dear  Sir : — I  received,  this  afternoon,  your  favour  of  the  17th,  in 
viting  me  to  attend  and  participate  in  the  meeting  to  be  held  in  your 
City  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of  doing  honour  to  the  memory  of  the  late 
Mr.  Fenimore  Cooper. 

I  sincerely  regret  that  I  cannot  be  with  you.  The  state  of  the 
weather  puts  it  out  of  my  power  to  make  the  journey.  The  object  of 
the  meeting  has  my  entire  sympathy.  The  works  of  Mr.  Cooper  have 
adorned  and  elevated  our  literature.  There  is  nothing  more  purely 


10  Til  EM  EMORY     OF     COOPER. 

American,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  than  several  of  them.  In 
his  department  he  is  facile  princeps.  He  wrote  too  much  to  write 
every  tiling  equally  well ;  but  his  abundance  flowed  out  of  a  full,  origi 
nal  mind,  and  his  rapidity  and  variety  bespoke  a  resolute  and  manlv 
consciousness  of  power.  If  among  his  works  there  are  some  which, 
had  he  been  longer  spared  to  us,  he  would  himself,  on  reconsideration, 
have  desired  to  recall,  there  are  many  more  which  the  latest  posterity 
"  will  not  willingly  let  die." 

With  much  about  him  that  was  intensely  national,  we  have  but  one 
other  writer  (Mr.  Irving)  as  widely  known  abroad.  Many  of  Cooper's 
novels  were  not  only  read  at  every  fireside  in  England,  but  were  trans 
lated  into  every  language  of  the  European  continent. 

He  owed  a  part  of  his  inspiration  to  the  magnificent  nature  which 
surrounded  him  ;  to  the  lakes,  and  forests,  and  Indian  traditions,  and 
border-life  of  your  great  state.  It  would  have  been  as  difficult  to 
create  Leatherstocking  any  where  out  of  New  York,  or  some  state 
closely  resembling  it,  as  to  create  Don  Quixote  out  of  Spain.  To  have 
trained  and  possessed  Fenimore  Cooper  will  be — is  already — with  jus 
tice,  one  of  your  greatest  boasts.  But  we  cannot  let  you  monopolize 
the  care  of  his  memory.  We  have  all  rejoiced  in  his  genius  ;  we  have 
all  felt  the  fascination  of  his  pen ;  we  all  deplore  his  loss.  You  must 
allow  us  all  to  join  you  in  doing  honour  to  the  name  of  our  great  Amer 
ican  novelist.  I  remain  dear  sir,  with  great  respect, 

Yery  truly  yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 
REV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD. 

From  Charles  Jared  Ingersoll. 

FON-THILL,  PHILADELPHIA,  Sept.  30th,  1851. 

Dear  Sir : — Your  favour,  inviting  me  to  a  meeting  of  the  friends  of 
Fenimore  Cooper,  did  not  reach  me  till  this  morning,  owing  probably 
to  an  irregularity  of  the  post-office.  Otherwise  I  should  have  tried  to 
attend  the  proposed  meeting,  not  only  as  a  friend  of  Mr.  Cooper,  but  as 
one  among  those  of  his  countrymen  who  consider  his  memory  a  national 
trust  for  honoured  preservation. 

In  my  opinion  of  Fenimore  Cooper  as  a  novelist  he  is  entitled  to  one 
merit  to  which  few  if  any  one  of  his  contemporary  European  romance 
writers  can  lay  claim,  to  wit,  originality.  Leatherstocking  is  an  origi 
nal  character,  and  entirely  American,  which  is  probably  one  of  the 
reasons  why  Cooper  was  more  appreciated  in  Continental  Europe  than 
even  Scott,  whose  magnificent  fancy  embellished  every  thing,  but  whose 


MEETING     AT     THE     CITY     HALL.  11 

genius,  I  think,  originated  nothing.  And  then,  in  my  estimate  of  Mr. 
Cooper's  superior  merits,  was  manly  independence — a  rare  American 
virtue.  For  the  less  free  Englishman  or  Frenchman,  politically,  there 
was  a  freeness  in  the  expression  as  well  as  adoption  of  his  own  views 
of  men  and  things.  And  a  third  kindred  merit  of  Cooper  was  high- 
minded  and  gentlemanly  abstinence  from  self-applause.  No  distin 
guished  or  applauded  man  ever  was  less  apt  to  talk  of  himself  and  his 
performances.  Unlike  too  many  modern  poets,  novelists,  and  other 
writers,  apt  to  become  debauchees,  drunkards,  blackguards  and  the  like, 
(as  if,  as  some  think,  genius  and  vice  go  together,)  Mr.  Cooper  was  a 
gentleman  remarkable  for  good  plain  sense,  correct  deportment,  striking 
probity  and  propriety,  and  withal  unostentatiously  devout.  Not  mean 
ing  to  disparage  any  one  in  order  by  odious  comparisons  to  extol  him, 
I  deem  his  Naval  History  a  more  valuable  and  enduring  historical  work 
than  many  others,  both  English  and  American,  of  contemporaneous 
publication  and  much  wider  dissemination.  In  short,  if  the  gentlemen 
whose  names  I  have  seen  in  the  public  journals  with  yours,  proposing 
some  concentrated  eulogium,  should  determine  to  appoint  a  suitable 
person,  with  time  to  prepare  it,  I  believe  that  Fenimore  Cooper  may  be 
made  the  subject  of  illustration  in  very  many  and  most  striking  lights, 
justly  reflecting  him,  and  with  excellent  influence  on  his  country. 

I  do  not  recollect,  from  what  I  read  lately  in  the  newspapers,  precise 
ly  what  you  and  the  other  gentlemen  associated  with  you  in  this  pro 
ceeding  propose  to  do,  or  whether  any  thing  is  to  take  place.  But  if 
so,  whatever  and  wherever  it  may  be,  I  beg  you  to  use  this  answer  to 
your  invitation,  and  any  services  I  can  render,  as  cordial  contributions, 
which  I  shall  be  proud  and  happy  to  make. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  humble  servant, 

C.  J.  INGERSOLL. 
REV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD. 

Letters  of  similar  import  were  read  from  GEORGE  TICK 
NOR,  WILLIAM  II.  PRESCOTT,  JOHN  NEAL,  WILLIAM  GILMORE 
SIMMS,  WILLIAM  WARE,  and  other  eminent  literary  men, 
and  the  meeting  was  attended  by  Dr.  FRANCIS  LIBBER, 
HENRY  C.  CAREY,  and  other  persons  of  distinction  from  dif 
ferent  parts  of  the  country. 

The  committee,  in  the  next  two  months,  held  at  the  Astor 
House  frequent  meetings,  at  one  of  which  Mr.  GREENOUGH, 


1'2  THE      MEMORY      OF      COOPER. 

the  eminent  sculptor,  was  so  obliging  as  to  furnish  much  inter 
esting  and  serviceable  information  and  suggestion  respecting 
monuments,  in  answer  to  the  committee's  inquiries.  On  one 
of  these  occasions  the  following  letter  was  read  from  WASH 
INGTON  IRVING  : 

StLNNYSIDE,   Oct.   15tJi,  1851. 

My  Dear  Sir : — My  occupations  in  the  country  prevent  my  attend 
ance  in  town  at  the  meetings  of  the  committee,  but  I  am  anxious  to 
know  what  is  doing.  I  signified  at  our  first  meeting  what  I  thought  the 
best  monument  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Cooper — a  statue.  It  is  the  sim 
plest,  purest,  and  most  satisfactory — perpetuating  the  likeness  of  the  per 
son.  I  understand  there  is  an  excellent  bust  of  Mr.  Cooper  extant,  made 
when  he  was  in  Italy.  He  was  there  in  his  prime ;  and  it  might  furnish 
the  model  for  a  noble  statue.  Judge  Duer  BUggWted  that  his  monument 
should  be  placed  at  Washington,  perhaps  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute. 
I  would  rather  for  New  York,  as  lie  belonged  to  this  state,  and  the 
scenes  of  several  of  his  best  works  were  laid  in  it.  Besides,  the  seat  of 
government  may  be  changed,  and  then  Washington  would  lose  its  im 
portance  ;  whereas  New  York  must  always  be  a  great  and  growing 
metropolis — the  place  of  arrival  and  departure  for  this  part  of  the 
world — the  great  resort  of  strangers  from  abroad,  and  of  our  own  peo 
ple  from  all  parts  of  the  Union.  One  of  our  beautiful  squares  would 
be  a  tine  situation  for  a  statue.  However,  I  am  perhaps  a  little  too 
local  in  my  notions  on  this  matter.  Cooper  emphatically  belongs  to 
the  nation,  and  his  monument  should  be  placed  where  it  would  be  most 
in  public  view.  Judge  Duer's  idea  therefore  may  be  the  best.  There 
will  be  a  question  of  what  material  the  statue  (if  a  statue  is  determined 
on)  should  be  made.  White  marble  is  the  most  beautiful,  but  how 
would  it  stand  our  climate  in  the  open  air  ?  Bronze  stands  all  weathers 
and  all  climates,  but  does  not  give  so  clearly  the  expression  of  the 
countenance,  when  regarded  from  a  little  distance. 

These  are  all  suggestions  scrawled  in  haste,  which  I  should  have 
made  if  able  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  committee.  I  wish  you 
would  drop  me  a  line  to  let  me  know  what  is  done  or  doing. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

WASHINGTON  IRVING. 
REV.  RUFUS  GRISWOLD. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.      13 

The  action  of  the  committee  was  deferred  several  weeks 
in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  Mr.  BRYANT,  of  whom  it  was 
from  the  beginning  intended  to  request  the  delivery  of  a  dis 
course  on  Mr.  COOPER,  and  who  was  then  on  a  tour  through 
the  Western  states ;  but  on  his  return  to  the  city  it  was  at  once 
determined  that:  the  public  proceedings,  which  were  in  con 
templation,  should  be  held  in  Metropolitan  Hall  on  the  24th 
of  December.  Mr.  WEBSTER  very  readily  consented  to  pre 
side  on  the  occasion,  and  there  was  a  prospect  of  such  a  result 
as  should  most  perfectly  gratify  the  friends  of  the  illustrious 
deceased,  and  vindicate  the  popular  appreciation  of  eminent 
moral  and  intellectual  qualities;  but  the  arrival  of  Louis 
Kossuth  in  New  York  not  only  engrossed  in  an  astonishing 
degree  the  general  feeling  and  attention,  but  his  prospective 
visit  to  the  seat  of  Government  rendered  it  impossible  for  the 
Secretary  of  State  to  be  absent  at  that  period ;  and  the  com 
mittee,  therefore,  with  perfect  unanimity,  decided  to  defer  the 
proposed  commemorative  proceedings,  until  such  a  combination 
of  favouring  circumstances  as  was  deemed  necessary  should 
warrant  the  appointment  of  another  day. 

In  the  meanwhile,  at  the  meeting  of  the  New  York  His 
torical  Society,  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  the  7th  of  October, 
the  Hon.  LUTHER  BRADISH  in  the  chair,  after  the  transaction 
of  the  regular  business,  the  following  resolutions  were  moved 
bv  Rev.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD  : 


Whereas,  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  remove  from  this  life  our 
illustrious  associate  and  countryman,  JAMES  FEXIMORE  COOPER,  while 
his  fame  was  in  its  fullness,  and  his  intelligence  was  still  unclouded  by 
age  or  anv  infirmity,  therefore: 


THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  has  heard  of  the  death  of  JAJIES  FENI- 
MORE  COOPEII  with  profound  regret: 

That  it  recognizes  in  him  an  eminent  subject  and  a  masterly  illus 
trator  of  our  history  : 

That,  in  his  contributions  to  our  literature,  he  displayed  eminent 
genius  and  a  truly  national  spirit : 

That,  in  his  personal  character,  he  was  honourable,  brave,  sincere,  and 
generous,  as  respectable  for  unaffected  virtue,  as  he  was  distinguished 
for  great  capacities : 

That  this  Society,  appreciating  the  loss  which,  however  heavily  it 
has  fallen  upon  this  country  and  the  literary  world,  has  fallen  most 
heavily  upon  his  family,  instructs  its  officers  to  convey  to  his  family, 
assurances  of  respectful  sympathy  and  condolence. 

Mr.  GEORGE  BANCROFT  having  seconded  these  resolutions, 
Dr.  JOHN  W.  FRANCIS  said : — 1  am  rejoiced  at  the  pre 
sentation  of  these  resolutions  to  the  Society.  Among  the 
many  great  literary  men  whom  our  country  has  produced, 
there  were  none  greater  than  Mr.  Cooper.  I  knew  him  for  a 
period  of  thirty  years,  and  during  all  that  time  I  never  knew 
any  thing  of  his  character  that  was  not  in  the  highest  degree 
praiseworthy.  He  was  a  man  of  great  decision  of  character, 
and  a  fair  expositor  of  his  own  thoughts  on  every  occasion — a 
thorough  American,  for  I  never  knew  a  man  who  \vas  more 
entirely  so  in  heart  and  principle.  He  was  able,  with  his  vast 
knowledge,  and  a  powerful  physical  structure,  to  complete 
whatever  he  attempted.  Men  might  dissent  from  his  opinions, 
but  no  one  ever  successfully  impugned  his  facts.  He  had 
studied  the  history  of  this  country  with  a  large  philosophy, 
and  understood  our  people  and  their  character  better  than  any 
other  writer  of  the  age.  He  was  not  only  perfectly  acquainted 
with  our  general  history,  but  he  was  also  conversant  with 
that  of  every  state,  county,  village,  lake,  and  river  of  the 
country. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.     15 

New  York,  with  its  history,  was  his  delight.  Mr.  Cooper 
was  emphatically  a  New  York  man.  And  with  this  vast 
knowledge  he  was  no  less  remarkable  for  his  ability  as  an 
historian  than  for  his  intrepidity  of  personal  character. 

I  will  trespass  but  a  moment  longer  on  the  time  of  the  So 
ciety.  It  was  natural  to  infer,  that  a  life  of  such  integrity,  so 
usefully  and  so  honourably  passed,  as  Mr.  Cooper's,  should  be 
closed  by  a  death  equally  entitled  to  our  notice.  With  the 
calmness  of  a  Christian  philosopher  he  listened  to  the  details 
of  his  critical  situation.  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  from 
my  professional  interviews  writh  him,  and  from  what  I  learned 
afterwards  from  his  interesting  family,  by  whom  he  was  sur 
rounded  in  his  dying  hours,  that  death  had  no  terrors  for  him ; 
that  he  was  fully  prepared  to  enter  into  eternity.  He  had 

for  some  considerable  time  previously  devoted  himself  to  the 

/ 

study  of  the  holy  Scriptures — had  become  an  active  mem 
ber  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church — and  had  received  its 
sacraments,  in  the  administrations  of  his  pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Batten.  He  had  for  many  years  been  chosen  a  delegate  of 
the  church  at  Cooperstown,  to  the  Annual  Conventions  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  New  York ;  and  on  a 
recent  occasion,  and  at  an  important  crisis,  he  exhibited  com 
manding  powers  in  justification  of  the  views  he  expressed  in 
the  defence  of  certain  principles  in  church  discipline,  and  on 
the  purity  of  the  ministerial  office.  In  the  full  fruition  of  the 
promises  of  the  Christian  faith,  he  died,  at  his  beautiful  sylvan 
retreat,  on  Otsego  Lake,  at  half-past  one  o'clock,  p.  M.,  on 
Sunday,  the  14th  September,  1851, — one  day  before  the 
completion  of  his  sixty-second  year.  He  expired,  calm  and 
resigned,  in  full  possession  of  his  intellectual  powers. 


16  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

I  leave  to  others  of  our  associates  to  enlarge  on  the  mag 
nificence  of  his  gifts — his  intellectual  labours — the  benefits  he 
has  conferred  on  letters,  and  on  society,  and  the  beneficence 
he  exercised  to  the  poor  and  to  the  needy.  I  could  not  allow 
this  opportunity  to  pass  without  paying  my  tribute  to  the 
merits  of  this  truly  great  man. 

Mr.  BANCROFT  next  addressed  the  Society.  My  friend,  he 
said,  has  spoken  of  the  illustrious  deceased  as  an  American — 
[  say  that  he  was  an  embodiment  of  the  American  feeling, 
and  truly  illustrated  American  greatness.  We  were  endeav 
ouring  to  hold  up  our  heads  before  the  world,  and  to  claim  a 
character  and  an  intellect  of  our  own,  when  Cooper  appeared 
with  his  powerful  genius  to  support  our  pretensions.  He 
came  forth  imbued  with  American  life,  and  feeling,  and  senti 
ment.  Another  like  Cooper  cannot  appear,  for  he  was  pe 
culiarly  suited  to  his  time,  which  was  that  of  an  invading 
civilization.  The  fame  and  honour  which  he  gained  were  not 
obtained  by  obsequious  deference  to  public  opinion,  but  sim 
ply  by  his  great  ability  and  manly  character.  Great  as  he 
was  in  the  department  of  romantic  fiction,  he  was  not  less 
deserving  of  praise  in  that  of  history.  In  Lionel  Lincoln  he 
has  described  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  better  than  it  is  de 
scribed  in  any  other  work.  In  his  Naval  History  of  the 
United  States,  he  has  left  us  the  most  admirable  composition 
of  which  any  nation  could  boast  on  a  similar  subject. 

Mr.  Bancroft  proceeded  in  a  masterly  analysis  of  some  of 
Mr.  Cooper's  characters,  and  ended  with  an  impressive  asser 
tion  of  the  purity  of  his  contributions  to  our  literature,  the  em 
inence  of  his  genius,  and  the  dignity  of  his  personal  character. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.      17 

My  friend,  he  said,  has  alluded  to  the  religious  senti 
ments  of  Mr.  Cooper.  It  has  been  said,  "an  undevout 
astronomer  is  mad,"  but  with  as  much  truth  may  it  be 
said  of  an  irreligious  man  of  letters.  Following  the  subtle 
processes  of  human  learning,  busied  with  the  nicest  ope 
rations  of  the  mind,  pursuing  truth  as  the  great  object, 
shall  he,  in  tracing  the  streams,  forget  the  Fountain  of  all 
truth  ?  Mr.  Cooper  certainly  did  not  do  so. 

The  Eev.  SAMUEL  OSGOOD  said  : — 

It  must  seem  presumptuous  in  me,  Mr.  President,  to  try 
to  add  any  thing  to  the  tribute  which  has  been  paid  to  the 
memory  of  Cooper,  by  gentlemen  so  peculiarly  qualified,  from 
their  experience  and  position,  to  speak  of  the  man  and  his  ser 
vices.  But  all  professions  have  their  own  point  of  view,  and 
I  may  be  allowed  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  relation  of  our 
great  novelist  to  the  historical  associations  and  moral  stand 
ards  of  our  nation.  I  cannot  claim  more  than  a  passing  ac 
quaintance  with  the  deceased,  and  it  belongs  to  friends  more 
favoured  to  interpret  the  asperities  and  illustrate  the  ameni 
ties  which  are  likely  to  mark  the  character  of  a  man  so  decided 
in  his  make  and  habit.  With  his  position  as  an  interpreter  of 
American  history,  and  a  delineator  of  American  character,  we 
are  in  this  Society  most  closely  concerned.  None  in  this  pres 
ence,  I  am  sure,  will  rebuke  me  for  speaking  of  the  novelist  as 
among  the  most  important  agents  of  popular  education,  pow 
erful  either  for  good  or  ill. 

Is  it  not  true,  sir,  that  the  romance  is  the  prose  epic  of 
modern  society,  and  that  we  now  look  to  its  pages  for  the 
most  graphic  portraitures  of  men,  manners,  and  events? 


18  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

Social  and  political  life  is  too  complex  now  for  the  stately 
inarch  of  the  heroic  poem,  and  this  age  of  print  needs  not  the 
carefully  measured  verse  to  make  sentences  musical  to  the 
ear,  or  to  save  them  from  being  mutilated  by  circulation.  The 
romance  is  now  the  chosen  form  of  imaginative  literature,  and 
its  gifted  masters  are  educators  of  the  popular  ideal.  What 
epic  poem  of  our  times  begins  to  compare  in  influence  over 
the  common  mind  with  the  stories  of  Scott  and  Cooper  ?  Our 
novelist  loved  most  to  treat  of  scenes  and  characters  distinct 
ively  national,  and  his  name  stands  indelibly  written  on  our 
fairest  lakes  and  rivers,  our  grandest  seas  and  mountains,  our 
annals  of  early  sacrifice  and  daring.  With  some  of  his  criti 
cisms  on  society,  and  some  of  his  views  of  political  and  histor 
ical  questions,  I  have  personally  little  sympathy.  But,  when 
it  is  asked,  in  the  impartial  standard  of  critical  justice,  what 
influence  has  he  exerted  over  the  moral  tone  of  American 
literature,  or  to  what  aim  has  he  wielded  the  fascinating  pen 
of  romance,  there  can  be  but  one  reply.  With  him,  fancy 
has  always  walked  hand  in  hand  with  purity,  and  the  ideal  of 
true  manhood,  which  is  every  where  most  prominent  in  his 
works,  is  one  of  which  we  may  well  be  proud  as  a  nation  and 
as  men. 

The  element  of  will,  perhaps  more  strongly  than  intel 
lectual  analysis,  or  exquisite  sensibility,  or  high  imagination, 
is  the  distinguished  characteristic  of  his  heroes,  and  in  this  his 
portraitures  are  good  types  of  what  is  strongest  in  the  practi 
cal  American  mind.  His  model  man,  whether  forester,  sailor, 
servant,  or  gentleman,  is  always  bent  on  bringing  some  espe 
cial  thing  to  pass,  and  the  progress  from  the  plan  to  the 
achievement  is  described  with  military  or  naval  exactness. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.      19 

Yet  he  never  overlooks  any  of  the  essential  traits  of  a  noble 
manhood,  and  loves  to  show  how  much  of  enterprise,  courage, 
compassion,  and  reverence  it  combines  with  practical  judgment 
and  religious  principle. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that  his  stories  of  the  seas  and  the 
forests  are  fitted  to  act  more  than  ever  upon  the  strong  hearts 
in  training  for  the  new  spheres  of  triumph  which  are  now  so 
wonderfully  opening  upon  our  people.  Who  does  not  wish 
that  his  noted  hero  of  the  backwoods  might  be  known  in  every 
log-house  along  our  extending  frontier,  and  teach  the  rough 
pioneer  always  to  temper  daring  by  humanity  1  Who  can 
ever  forget  that  favourite  character,  as  dear  to  the  reader  as 
to  the  author, — that  paladin  of  the  forest,  that  lion-heart  of  the 
wilderness, — Leatherstocking — fearless  towards  man,  gentle 
towards  woman, — a  rough-cast  gentleman  of  as  true  a  heart  as 
ever  beat  under  the  red  cross  of  the  crusader.  The  qualities 
needed  in  those  old  times  of  frontier  strife  are  now  needed  for 
new  emergencies  in  more  peaceful  border  life,  and  our  future 
depends  vastly  upon  the  characters  that  give  edge  to  the  ad 
vancing  mass  of  our  population  now  crowding  towards  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific  coast.  It  is  well  that  this 
story-teller  of  the  forest  has  been  so  true  to  the  best  traits  of 
.our  nature,  and  in  so  many  points  is  a  moralist  too.  As  a 
romancer  of  the  sea,  Cooper's  genius  may  perhaps  be  but 
beginning  to  show  its  influence,  as  a  new  age  of  commercial 
greatness  is  opening  upon  our  nation. 

Mr.  Cooper  did  not  shrink  from  battle-scenes,  and  had 
no  particular  dread  of  gunpowder,  yet  his  best  laurels  upon 
the  ocean  have  been  won  in  describing  feats  of  seamanship 
and  traits  of  manhood  that  need  no  bloody  conflict  for  their 


20  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

display,  and  may  be  exemplified  in  fleets  as  peaceful  and 
beneficent  as  ever  spread  their  sails  to  the  breezes  to  bear 
kindly  products  to  friendly  nations.  As  we  sit  here  this 
evening,  under  the  influence  of  the  hour,  the  images  of  many 
a  famous  exploit  on  the  water  seems  to  come  out  from  his 
well-remembered  pages,  and  mingle  themselves  with  recent 
scenes  of  marine  achievement.  Has  not  the  "  Water-Witch" 
herself  re-appeared  of  late  in  our  own  bay,  and  laden,  not  with 
contraband  goods,  but  a  freight  of  stout-hearted  gentlemen, 
borne  the  palm  as  "  Skimmer  of  the  Seas"  from  all  competi 
tors,  in  presence  of  the  royalty  and  nobility  of  England  ?  And 
the  old  "  Ironsides,"  has  not  she  come  back  again,  more  iron- 
ribbed  than  ever  ? — not  to  fight  over  the  old  battles  which  our 
naval  chronicler  was  so  fond  of  rehearsing,  but  under  the  name 
of  the  Baltic  or  (better  omen)  the  Pacific,  to  win  a  victory 
more  honourable  and  encouraging  than  ever  was  carried  by 
the  thundering  broadsides  of  the  noble  old  Constitution !  The 
commanders  and  pilots  so  celebrated  by  the  novelist,  have 
they  not  successors  indomitable  as  they  1  and  just  now  our 
ship-news  brings  good  tidings  of  their  achievements,  as  they 
tell  us  of  the  Flying  Cloud  that  has  made  light  of  the  storms 
of  the  fearful  southern  cape,  and  of  the  return  of  the  adventu 
rous  fleet  that  has  stood  so  well  the  hug  of  the  Polar  icebergs, 
and  shown  how  nobly  a  crew  may  hunt  for  men  on  the  seas, 
with  a  Red  Rover's  daring  and  a  Christian's  mercy. 

It  is  well  that  the  most  gifted  romancer  of  the  sea  is  an 
American,  and  that  he  is  helping  us  to  enact  the  romance  of 
history  so  soon  to  be  fact.  The  empire  of  the  waters,  which 
in  turn  has  belonged  to  Tyre,  Venice,  and  England,  seems 
waiting  to  come  to  America,  and  no  part  of  the  world  now  so 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.     21 

justly  claims  its  possession  as  that  state  in  which  Cooper  had 
his  home.  Who  does  not  welcome  the  promise  of  the  new 
age  of  powerful  commerce  and  mental  blessing  1  Who  does 
not  feel  grateful  to  any  man  who  gives  any  good  word  or 
work  to  the  emancipation  of  the  sailor  from  his  worst  enemies, 
and  to  the  freedom  of  the  seas  from  all  the  violence  that  stains 
its  benignant  waters  ?  W^hile  proud  of  our  fleet  ships,  let  us 
not  forget  elements  in  their  equipment  more  important  than 
oak  and  iron.  In  this  age  of  merchandise,  let  us  adorn  peace 
with  something  of  the  old  manhood  that  took  from  warfare 
some  of  its  horrors.  Did  time  allow,  I  might  try  to  illustrate 
the  power  of  an  attractive  literature  in  keeping  alive  national 
associations,  and  moulding  national  character ;  but  I  am  con 
tent  to  leave  these  few  fragmentary  words  writh  the  Society  as 
my  poor  tribute  to  a  writer  who  charmed  many  hours  of 
my  boyhood,  and  wrho  has  won  regard  anew  as  the  entertain 
ing  and  instructive  beguiler  of  some  recent  days  of  rural  rec 
reation.  May  we  not  sincerely  say  that  he  has  so  used  the 
treasures  of  our  national  scenery  and  history  as  to  elevate  the 
true  ideal  of  true  manhood,  and  quicken  the  nation's  memory 
in  many  respects  auspiciously  for  the  nation's  hopes  ? 

Dr.  HAWKS  spoke  warmly  of  the  religious  sentiment  in 
Mr.  Cooper,  as  illustrated  in  his  life  and  in  his  writings,  quoting 
the  eulogy  of  Lord  Lyttleton  on  the  poet  Thomson : 

Not  one  immoral,  one  corrupted  thought, 
One  line  which,  dying,  he  could  wish  to  blot. 

He  contrasted  eloquently  the  pervading  purity  and  dignity 
of  Mr.  Cooper,  in  a  field  in  which  the  critics  assigned  him  the 
highest  rank  that  had  ever  been  attained,  with  the  grossness  of 


22  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

those  authors  who  presumed  that  the  sailor  and  the  pioneer 
were  incapable  of  refinement,  and  could  be  aptly  painted  only 
in  language  such  as  the  judicious  parent  could  not  willingly 
submit  to  his  family. 

The  evening  of  the  25th  of  February  having  finally  been 
selected  for  the  puMic  commemorative  proceedings  in  honour 
of  Mr.  COOPER,  the  spacious  Metropolitan  Hall  was  filled  at 
an  early  hour  with  an  assembly  comprising  a  large  representa 
tion  of  the  intelligence  and  literary  culture  of  the  city.  Mr. 
WEBSTER  took  the  chair  at  half-past  seven  o'clock.  On  his 
right  hand  were  seated  Mr.  BRYANT,  Mr.  LUTHER  BRADISH, 
Mr.  KINGSLAND,  the  Mayor,  and  Dr.  FRANCIS  ;  on  his  left  Mr. 
WASHINGTON  IRVING,  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  Rev.  Dr. 
GRISWOLD,  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  and  Mr.  BANCROFT  ; 
and  on  the  stage,  besides  members  of  the  Committee,  were 
Rev.  Dr.  HENRY  and  Professor  ABLER,  of  the  University  ; 
Mr.  G.  P.  Iv.  JAMES,  Chancellor  McCouN,  Chief  Justice  JONES, 
Mr.  CHARLES  O'GoNOR,  Mr.  OGDEN  HOFFMAN,  Rev.  Dr. 
BETIIUNE  ;  Professor  HACKLEY,  of  Columbia  College ;  Mr. 
CURTIS,  author  of  "  Nile  Notes" ;  Mr.  YOUNG,  editor  of 
"  The  Albion ;"  Mr.  GEORGE  RIPLEY,  Mr.  IT.  T.  TUCKERMAN, 
Mr.  BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER,  Mr.  PELL,  Dr.  WYNNE,  and  many 
other  persons  of  distinction. 

In  the  speeches  pronounced  during  the  evening,  and  in 
most  of  the  subsequent  reports  in  the  journals,  the  opinion 
was  expressed  that  there  had  never  before  been  assembled 
for  any  purpose  so  large  an  audience  of  the  most  intellec 
tual  and  socially  eminent  classes  of  the  city,  as  was  then 
present. 


MR.    WEBSTER'S   SPEECH.  ^o 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  WASHINGTON  IRVING, 
who  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm.  He  said : — 

I  was  sorry  to  find  it  reported  that  I  intended  to  deliver 
an  address  this  evening.  I  have  no  talent  for  public  speaking ; 
if  I  had  I  would  be  most  happy  to  do  justice  to  the  genius  of 
one  whose  writings  entitle  him  to  the  love,  respect,  and  admi 
ration  of  every  American.  I  appear  before  you,  on  this  occa 
sion,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  to  pre 
sent  to  you  the  Hon.  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  who  will  preside  at 
this  meeting. 

Mr.  IRVING-  here  introduced  Mr.  WEBSTER  to  the  audience, 
amidst  loud,  enthusiastic,  and  long-continued  applause. 

When  quiet  was  restored,  Mr.  WEBSTER  advanced  and  said  : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen : — I  deem  it  an  honour  to  be  called 
upon  to  occupy  the  chair  of  this  meeting.  The  object  is  to 
promote  the  purpose  of  erecting  an  appropriate  statue  to  the 
memory  of  a  distinguished  citizen  of  New  York,  who  has  nut 
only  honoured  the  state  to  which  he  belonged,  but  also 
the  whole  country,  of  which  he  was  a  citizen,  by  his  distin 
guished  contributions  to  American  literature. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  There  are  roads  to  fame  of  various 
character.  Feats  in  arms  acquire  renown,  military  achieve 
ments  take  strong  hold  of  the  minds  of  men,  and  transmit  the 
names  of  their  authors  to  the  knowledge  of  posterity.  Political 
life  has  also  its  distinction,  and  those  who  have  proved  eminent 
in  this  career,  especially  if  connected  with  events  greatly  affect 
ing,  and  favourably  affecting,  the  liberty  of  their  country  and 
of  mankind,  have  equal  right  to  be  cherished  in  the  grateful 


24  THE    MEMORY     OF    COOPER. 

recollection  of  succeeding  generations.  He,  in  whose  honour 
we  are  now  assembled,  was  never  a  soldier  in  arms,  nor  was 
it  his  lot  to  command  the  attention  of  listening  senates.  But 
by  the  diffusion  of  his  literary  productions,  by  his  taste,  talent, 
and  industry,  he  had  become  so  much  an  object  of  national 
regard,  as  one  to  whom  all  classes  were  indebted,  for  knowl 
edge,  and  literary  recreation. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  Is  there  any  reputation  more  to  be 
desired  than  that  which  is  established  by  addressing  itself  to 
the  taste  and  the  cultivation,  the  morality  and  the  religion,  cf 
civilized  men?  Who  can  more  properly  deserve  praise  than  he 
who  elevates  the  literature,  enlightens  the  moral  power,  and 
strengthens  the  religious  character  of  the  age  in  wrhich  he  lives  r[ 

I  should  not  be  here  to-night,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  raise 
my  feeble  voice  in  honour  of  the  memory  of  Fenimore  Cooper, 
however  distinguished  by  genius,  talent,  education,  and  the  art 
of  popular  writing,  if  in  the  character  of  his  productions  there 
was  any  thing  to  be  found  calculated  to  undermine  the  prin 
ciples  of  our  religious  faith,  or  debauch  the  morality  of  the 
country. 

Nothing  of  genius  or  talent  can  atone  for  an  injury  of  this 
kind  to  the  rising  generation  of  the  community. 

As  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Mr.  Cooper, 
they  uphold  good  sentiments,  sustain  good  morals,  and  main 
tain  just  taste ; — and,  after  saying  this,  I  have  next  to  add,  that 
all  his  writings  are  truly  patriotic  and  American,  throughout 
and  throughout. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that  I  deem  it  an  honour  to  be  here, 
on  this  occasion,  to  perform  my  humble  part,  to  rear  a  proper 
statue  or  monument,  to  the  memory  of  Fenimore  Cooper.  I 


MR.    WEBSTER'S   SPEECH.  25 

consider  him  as  having  contributed  largely  to  the  reputation 
of  American  literature,  at  home  and  abroad. 

He  is  known  every  where,  his  writings  have  been  read 
not  only  all  over  this  country,  but  wherever  our  language 
is  read; — and  wherever  read  they  have  inspired  good  feel 
ings  and  given  rational  pleasure.  He  possessed  the  power 
of  amusing,  and  of  enlightening  readers  among  the  younger 
classes  of  the  country,  without  injury  to  their  morals  or  any 
solicitation  of  depraved  passions.  This  is  his  great  praise, 
and  what  is  more  honourable,  or  more  likely  to  endure,  than 
the  fame  which  is  secured  by  writings  of  this  tendency  ? 
and  these  writings,  at  the  same  time,  are  full  of  informa 
tion  respecting  our  country,  the  early  habits  of  the  people 
and  our  own  scenery,  and  are  therefore  likely  to  go  down 
with  great  interest  to  the  generations  which  are  to  succeed 
us,  and  to  transmit  his  delineation  of  American  character, 
in  the  age  before  his  own,  to  those  which  shall  come  after 
him.  There  has  been  no  American  writer  (I  suppose)  wiio 
imbued  his  own  mind  with  a  fresher  or  stronger  feeling  of  the 
habits  and  manners  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  country,  who 
both  understood  the  scenery  and  modes  of  life,  on  the  frontier, 
between  civilization  and  the  forest,  or  who  has  presented  that 
scenery  or  those  modes  of  life  with  more  variety  and  effect. 
He  has  gone  ;  but  he  has  left  a  name  behind  him,  which  it  is 
ours  to  cherish  and  to  honour ;  and  so  far  as  marble  or  bronze- 
can  perpetuate  it,  let  marble  and  bronze  be  employed.  But  it 
is  rather,  I  think,  for  the  purpose  of  manifesting  our  own  grati 
tude  for  his  well-deserving  efforts,  that  we  ardently  contribute 
by  these  material  fabrics  to  the  object  of  transmitting  his  mem 
ory  to  our  children.  The  enduring  monuments  of  Fenimore 


26  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

Cooper  arc  his  works.  Those,  and  this  meeting,  composed,  as  it 
is,  of  many  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  men  of  letters  of 
his  age  and  country,  with  other  thousands  of  his  admiring  fel 
low-citizens,  assembled  in  honour  of  his  memory,  constitute 
his  fame.  He  might  say  with  the  great  Roman  orator — 
"  Quibus  pro  tantis  rebus,  nullum  ego  a  vobis  premium  virtutis, 
iiullum  insigne  honoris,  nullum.  monumeiitum  laudis  postulo, 
praeterquam  hujus  diei  memoriam  sempiternam.  In  animis 
ego  vestris  omnes  triumphos  meos,  omnia  ornamenta  honoris, 
monumenta  glorice,  laudis  insignia,  cpndi  et  collocari  volo." 
Living  in  an  enlightened  age,  an  age  of  literature  and  science, 
of  history,  poetry  and  recital,  the  monument  of  Mr.  Cooper 
exists  in  the  minds  of  men,  and,  like  other  thoughts  and  senti 
ments,  is  transmitted  from  man  to  man  in  the  ordinary  succes 
sion  of  generations.  While  mind  and  memory  and  taste,  the 
veneration  of  religion,  the  love  of  country  and  of  good  morals, 
continue  to  prevail,  his  remembrance  will  exist  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  my  duty  on  this  occasion  is  very 
simple.  It  is  to  signify  my  sense  of  the  honour  conferred  on 
me  by  being  called  to  the  chair  of  this  meeting,  and  to  prepare 
you  for  the  proceedings  and  the  remarks  which  are  now  t<  > 
succeed. 

Turning  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  (Mr.  FITZ- 
GREENE  HALLECK,  one  of  the  secretaries,  being  detained 
from  the  meeting,)  Mr.  WEBSTER  then  said : 

Dr.  GRISWOLD  will  now  proceed  to  read  letters  that  have 
been  addressed  to  the  Committee  of  friends  of  Mr.  COOPER, 
by  gentlemen  who  are  not  present. 


The  following  letters  were  then  read,  the  assembly  receiv 
ing  the  names  of  several  of  the  writers  with  applause. 

From  the  late  Dr.  De  Kay. 

SYOSSET,  L.  I,  Nov.  6th,  1851. 

Dear  Sir : — I  perceive  by  the  papers,  that  a  movement  is  about  to 
be  made  to  do  honour  to  the  memory  of  Fenimore  Cooper. 

Under  feelings  of  profound  grief  for  the  loss  of  a  warm  personal 
friend,  and  a  manly,  true-hearted  American,  I  am  prompted  to  inquire 
what  form  the  public  demonstration  is  likely  to  take  on  this  occasion. 
Should  a  monument  be  determined  upon,  I  would  cheerfully  honour 
your  draft  for  $100 "for  this  purpose. 

I  do  not  wish  to  appear  ostentatious,  or  prominent  in  this  matter, 
and  for  that  reason  called  upon  you  once  or  twice  when  in  town  last, 
to  confer  with  you  personally,  as  those  matters  appear  to  me  better 
arranged  verbally  than  by  writing. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

JAS.  E.  DE  KAY. 
RKV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWTOLD. 

From  Francis  Liebcr,  LL.  1). 

COLUMBIA,  S.  C.,  Feb.,  1852. 

Dear  Sir : — I  regret  very  much  that  I  cannot  possibly  accept  your  kind 
invitation.  Were  I  within  any  reasonable  distance  from  New  York,  I 
should  certainly  join  you,  thus  to  pay  my  humble  though  sincere  respect 
to  a  departed  fellow- writer. 

Had  I  any  voice  in  this  matter,  which  I  know  I  have  not,  I  wrould  ex 
press  my  hope  that  the  monument  be  erected  in  New  York  and  not  in 
Washington.  In  New  York  his  monument  will  be  part  and  parcel  of  a 
living  organism,  as  the  Raphael  is  over  the  altar;  in  Washington  it 
would  be  like  a  great  picture  in  a  gallery,  losing  half  its  value  because 
out  of  place.  Washington  never  was,  never  will  be,  and  never  was  in 
tended  to  be,  a  London  or  Paris.  It  is  but  the  Frankfort  of  the  United 
States.  New  York  will  be,  socially,  the  capital.  In  New  York  he  lived, 
and  in  New  York  the  monument  would  also  be  a  striking  proof  that 
•  •Id  difficulties  have  been  buried  and  long  forgotten.  Erect  it  in  New 
York  and  give  it  to  your  noble  son,  Crawford,  to  execute  it — the  most 
poetic  of  our  sculptors.  Have  you  seen  his  plan  of  the  Richmond  monu 
ment  ?  But  pardon  me,  I  am  perhaps  presumptuous. 

I  send  you  by  this  mail  a  trifle.  Your  very  obedient, 

F.  LIEBER. 

REV.  RUFUS  W.  Giuswou>. 


28  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

From  the  Hon.  Lewis  Cass. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  Feb.  IQth,  1852. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  have  received  your  letter  inviting  me,  in  the  name  of 
the  Committee,  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  proposed  to  be  held  for 
the  purpose  of  making  the  necessary  arrangements  for  a  suitable  dem 
onstration  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  James  Fenimore  Cooper. 

I  cannot  be  with  you  upon  that  occasion,  but  it  will  not  be  for  the 
want  of  respect  for  his  memory  as  a  man  and  as  an  author.  It  would 
be  idle  for  me  to  speak  of  his  literary  merits  and  his  fame.  His  coun 
try  and  the  world  acknowledge  and  appreciate  his  claims,  and  the  pro 
ductions  of  his  genius  will  go  down  to  posterity  among  the  noblest 
efforts  of  the  age.  I  shall  necessarily  be  detained  here,  but  I  trust  that 
the  result  of  your  meeting  will  be  a  demonstration  worthy  of  the  coun 
try,  and  of  him,  though  now  lost  to  us,  will  ever  live  in  the  history  of 
human  greatness. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

LEWIS  CASS. 
REV.  DR.  GRISWOLD. 

From  the  Hon.  Richard  Hush. 

SYDEXHAM,  near  Philadelphia. 

Dear  Sir  : — Yesterday's  mail  brought  me  your  most  gratifying  invi 
tation,  on  the  part  of  the  Committee  "  of  friends  of  the  late  Mr.  Cooper," 
to  be  present  at  Metropolitan  Hall,  in  New  York,  on  the  evening  of  the 
25th  instant,  when  Mr.  Bryant  is  to  pronounce  a  discourse  on  the  life  and 
genius  of  Mr.  Cooper,  Mr.  Webster  presiding  on  the  occasion.  These 
names,  associated  with  those  of  the  Committee,  Washington  Irving  being 
at  its  head,  in  further  conjunction  with  Mr.  Prescott's  name,  Mr.  Eve 
rett's  and  Mr.  Tickrror's,  whom  you  also  mention  as  intending  to  be 
present,  hold  out  inducements  of  the  highest  kind  to  my  acceptance  of 
such  an  invitation.  In  proportion  as  I  feel  honoured  and  gratified  by  it, 
I  hasten  to  express  the  sincere  regret  I  experience  at  being  unable  to 
accept  it,  from  a  previous  engagement.  Uniting  in  the  opinion  ex 
pressed  in  your  letter  that  the  genius  and  high  character  of  Mr.  Cooper 
make  his  death  a  suitable  occasion  for  beginning  to  honour  literary  dis 
tinction  in  this  country,  I  rejoice  to  think  that  a  movement  to  that  effect 
comes  forward  under  names  so  imposing  in  reputation  and  number  as 
to  afford  the  best  pledges  of  success.  A  movement  springing  from  so 
elevated  a  feeling,  and  commencing  in  a  case  so  fitted  to  awaken  public 
sympathy  throughout  our  land,  carries  with  it  also  my  humble  but  mo.«t 
cordial  and  most  heart-felt  co-operation  in  wishes  and  hopes.  May  it 
succeed — monument  and  all — to  the  fullest  extent  of  Fenimore  Cooper's 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THE  COMMITTEE.     '29 

merits  as  an  author.  And  let  it  lay  to  heart,  that,  to  whatever  height 
our  political  consideration  may  tower  in  the  world,  whatever  is,  or  is  to 
be  our  renown  as  a  nation,  its  most  enduring  fame  will  rest  on  our  great 
names  in  the  field  of  letters  and  science.  It  is  their  works  that  will 
survive  and  continue  to  shine  out,  when  other  vestiges  of  our  greatness 
and  glory  will  have  disappeared. 

Fully  appreciating  the  honour  of  this  invitation,  and  desiring  to  ten 
der  through  you  my  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  committee, 
I  beg  you,  my  dear  sir,  to  believe  me,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obliged  and  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  RUSH. 
REV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD. 

From  Professor  Henry  Reed. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Feb.  20th,  1S52. 

Dear  Sir : — I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  the  9th  inst.,  inviting  me,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee,  to  attend 
the  proposed  meeting  of  the  friends  of  the  late  James  Fenimore  Cooper. 

I  was  glad  to  learn  that  it  is  in  contemplation  to  erect  a  statue  of 
Mr.  Cooper.  It  will  be,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  first  tribute  of  the  kind 
paid  in  our  country  to  the  memory  of  a  man  of  letters;  and  it  may, 
therefore,  be  hailed  as  a  proof  a  growing  national  respect  for  the 
labourers  of  literature. 

In  the  younger  days  of  American  art,  public  gratitude  was  fain  to 
be  content  with  the  monumental  slab,  or  obelisk,  or  column,  as  memo 
rials  of  the  distinguished  dead ;  but  now,  when  it  can  call  to  its  service 
the  genius  of  a  Greenough,  or  of  our  other  eminent  sculptors,  the  statiw 
is  the  more  appropriate  as  as  it  is  the  far  more  expressive  memento. 

It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  attend  the  proposed  meeting, 
and  to  be  a  listener  to  Mr.  Bryant's  discourse,  but  a  protracted  illness, 
which  still  keeps  me  a  prisoner  within  doors,  puts  it  out  of  my  power. 
Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

HENRY  REED. 

REV.  R.  W.  GRISWOLD. 

From  Hon.  James  Hall. 

CINCINNATI,  Ohio,  Feb.  Uth,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir : — I  have  had  the  honour  of  receiving  your  letter  of  the 
9th  inst.,  inviting  me  to  be  present  at  Metropolitan  Hall,  on  the  evening  of 
the  24th  inst.,  to  participate  in  the  proceedings  which  may  then  take  place, 
to  render  honour  to  the  memory  of  James  Fenimore  Cooper.  The  great 
distance  of  my  residence,  and  the  pressing  nature  of  my  engagements  at 


->0  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

home,  nlone  prevents  me  from  uniting  in  a  work  Avhich  has  my  entire 
approbation,  and  enlists  my  deepest  sympathy.  The  merits  of  Mr. 
Cooper  as  a  writer,  and  as  a  successful  pioneer  in  American  literature, 
entitle  his  memory  to  the  highest  honours  which  his  countrymen,  and 
especially  the  writers  of  his  country,  can  render.  I  shall  not  be  able  to 
be  present  in  person  the  evening  of  the  24th,  but  will  be  with  you  in 
feeling  and  sentiment,  and  will  consider  myself  honoured  in  being  per 
mitted  to  contribute  to  this  excellent  design,  in  any  form  which  may  be 
efficient  and  acceptable.  I  beg  the  Committee  to  command  my  services 
if  in  any  w^ay  they  can  be  made  useful.  Very  truly,  yours, 

JAMES  HALL. 
REV.  RUFUS  "W.  GRISWOLP,  etc. 

From  Herman  Melville. 

PITTSFIELD,  Mass.,  Feb.  20th,  1852. 

Gentlemen  : — I  have  been  honoured  by  receiving  an  official  invitation 
to  attend  the  Cooper  Demonstration,  to  be  held  in  New  York  on  the  24th 
of  this  month.  My  very  considerable  distance  from  the  city,  connected 
witli  other  reasons,  will  prevent  my  compliance.  But  I  rejoice  that 
there  will^not  be  wanting  many  better,  though  not  more  zealous,  men 
than  myself,  to  unite  on  that  occasion,  in  doing  honour  to  a  memory  so 
very  dear,  not  only  to  American  literature,  but  to  the  American  nation. 

I  never  had  the  honour  of  knowing,  or  even  seeing,  Mr.  Cooper  per 
sonally  ;  so  that,  through  my  past  ignorance  of  his  person,  the  man, 
though  dead,  is  still  as  living  to  me  as  ever.  And  this  is  very  much  ; 
for  his  works  are  among  the  earliest  I  can  remember,  as  in  my  boyhood 
producing  a  vivid  and  awakening  power  upon  my  mind. 

It  always  much  pained  me,  that  for  any  reason,  in  his  latter  years,  his 
fame  at  home  should  have  apparently  received  a  slight,  temporary  cloud 
ing,  from  some  very  paltry  accidents,  incident  more  or  less  to  the  gen 
eral  career  of  letters.  But  whatever  possible  things  in  Mr.  Cooper  may 
have  seemed  to  have  in  some  degree  provoked  the  occasional  treatment 
he  received,  it  is  certain  that  he  possessed  not  the  slightest  weaknesses 
but  those  wyhich  are  only  noticeable  as  the  almost  infallible  indices  of 
pervading  greatness.  He  was  a  great,  robust-souled  man,  all  whose 
merits  are  not  seen,  yet  fully  appreciated.  But  a  grateful  posterity  wrill 
take  the  best  care  of  Fenimore  Cooper. 

Assured  that  your  demonstration  cannot  but  prove  a  noble  one, 
equally  worthy  of  its  illustrious  object  and  the  numerous  living  celebri 
ties  who  will  partake  in  it,  T  am,  very  respectfully,  yours, 

HERMAN  MELVILLE. 

To  THE  COMMITTEE,  etc. 


CORRESPONDENCE     OF     THE     COMMITTEE.  31 

From  William  H.  Prcscott,  Esq. 

BOSTON,  Feb.  23c7,  1852. 

My  Dear  Irving  : — I  received  yesterday,  by  Dr.  Griswold,  your 
friendly  summons  to  attend  the  celebration  in  honour  of  Cooper,  on 
Wednesday  next.  It  is  with  much  regret  that  I  find  myself  unable  to 
comply  with  it,  as  certain  family  arrangements,  which  I  have  explained 
to  Dr.  Griswold,  make  it  extremely  inconvenient  to  leave  town  the 
present  week. 

I  do  regret  sincerely  that  I  cannot  take  any  share  in  paying  this 
tribute  of  respect  to  an  illustrious  countryman.  I  have  seen  it  stated 
in  some  of  your  journals  that  his  character  as  a  writer  was  not  fully 
appreciated  here  at  the  North.  I  believe  there  is  some  misapprehension 
in  this.  But  at  all  events,  any  criticism  on  petty  defects  will  now  be 
lost  in  admiration  of  the  results  of  a  life  which,  for  the  last  thirty  years 
or  more,  has  been  steadily  devoted  to  letters — results  in  which  every 
American  must  take  an  honest  pride.  For  surely  no  one  has  succeeded 
like  Cooper  in  the  portraiture  of  American  character,  taken  in  its 
broadest  sense,  of  the  civilized  and  of  the  uncivilized  man,  or  has  given 
such  glowing  and  eminently  faithful  pictures  of  American  scenery. 
His  writings  are  instinct  with  the  spirit  of  nationality,  shown  not  less 
in  those  devoted  to  sober  fact  than  in  the  sportive  inventions  of  his 
inexhaustible  fancy.  His  merits  have  been  admitted  not  only  wherever 
the  English  language  is  spoken,  but  all  over  Europe,  as  every  traveller 
knows  who  has  seen  the  translations  of  Cooper  in  the  different  lan 
guages  of  the  Continent,  holding  their  place  beside  those  of  the  great 
masters  of  English  literature. 

There  is  no  one,  I  am  sure,  in  this  country,  from  the  north  to  the 
south,  who  does  not  look  on  the  fame  of  Cooper  as  the  property  of  the 
nation,  or  who  would  not  willingly  join  in  any  testimony  of  respect  that 
may  be  shown  to  his  memory.  I,  for  one,  most  heartily  do  so. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  the  subscriptions  to  the  statue  proposed  to 
be  erected  are  not  confined  to  your  own  state.  -They  certainly  ought 
not  to  be  so  limited.  Understanding  this  from  Dr.  Griswold,  I  take 
this  occasion  to  enclose  a  draft,  payable  to  your  order,  for  a  small  sum, 
which  I  pray  you  to  add  to  the  general  fund. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  your  own  health  has  been  good  of  late.  Long 
may  it  be  before  you,  too,  join  the  company  of  the  immortals. 

With  my  best  wishes  for  your  prosperity  and  happiness, 
I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  faithfully  yours, 

WM.  H.  PRESCOTT. 
WASHINGTON  IRVING,  ESQ. 


33  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

From  Richard  II.  Dana 

BOSTON,  Feb.  20th,  1852. 

Gentlemen : — The  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  appointed 
for  the  evening  of  the  24th,  reached  me  a  few  days  since. 

I  deeply  regret  that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  make  one  in  the 
number  of  those  who  will  come  together  to  pay  their  tribute  of  respect 
to  the  memory  of  the  late  James  Fenimore  Cooper.  While  something 
more  than  courtesy  long  shown  to  me  by  Mr.  Cooper,  has  made  his  loss 
like  a  private  grief  to  me,  I  am  aware  that  there  will  be  many  present 
whose  feelings  must  be  the  same  with  mine ;  and  it  would  be  grateful 
to  me  if,  like  them,  I  could  bring  my  treasured  sorrow  to  place  with 
theirs,  an  offering  to  the  one  common  object  of  our  regard  and  love. 

As  we  grow  old,  our  excited  admiration  of  genius  (while,  perhaps, 
no  less  justly  apprehensive  than  at  first)  calms  down,  and  our  thoughts 
turn  oftener  towards  the  moral  nature  of  the  man.  Many  of  us  can  re 
member  how  we  were  stirred  on  the  first  appearance  of  the  "  Spy,"  and 
how  we  connected  the  man  with  his  work — for  then  our  writers  were 
few,  and  what  they  wrote  brought  them  with  the  interest  and  life  of 
individuality  before  our  minds.  We  have  all  since  that  time  threaded 
the  forests  with  Cooper,  and  sailed  with  him  over  the  seas.  But  do  we 
not  (at  least  at  such  a  time  as  this)  love  more  to  dwell  upon  his  open, 
manly,  energetic  nature,  and  upon  that  self-reliance  and  civil  courage 
(much  too  rare  amongst  us)  which  would,  with  equal  freedom,  speak 
out  in  the  face  of  the  people,  whether  they  were  friendly  or  adverse? 

Still,  it  is  the  humble,  childlike  trust,  shining  out  in  the  closing  day 
of  this  man  of  so  firm  a  spirit,  which  most  wins  us  as  it  sheds  its  reli 
gious  light  through  the  gathering  shadows  of  death,  and  bids  us  watch 
for  a  new  dawn.  And  is  there  not  something  hopeful  in  the  reflection, 
that  the  first  assembling  of  our  literary  men  should  be  for  a  purpose 
so  sacred  as  that  of  honouring  one  of  their  dead  ?  For  a  common  sor 
row  makes  the  closest  brotherhood,  and  death  bids  the  living  live  in 
love,  if  they  would  pass  in  peace.  With  true  sympathy  and  regard, 
I  am,  gentlemen,  your  obedient  servant, 

RICH'D  H.  DANA. 

RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD  and  FITZ- GREENE  HALLECK,  &c. 

From  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

CONCORD,  Mass. 

Dear  Sir : — I  am  very  unwilling  to  lose  the  occasion  you  offer  mo, 
both  of  hearing  the  celebration  of  Mr.  Cooper's  genius,  and  of  meeting 
with  so  many  excellent  persons  who  wish  to  honour  his  memory.  But 
my  engagements,  though  not  important,  are  not  easily  set  aside 


CORRESPONDENCE     OF     THE     COMMITTEE.  33 

I  never  had  the  good  fortune  to  see  Mr.  Cooper  ;  but  I  have,  in  com 
mon  with  almost  all  who  speak  English,  an  old  debt  to  him  of  happy 
days,  on  the  first  appearance  of  the  Pioneers.  And,  when  I  remember 
the  unanimity  with  which  that  national  novel  was  greeted,  I  perceive 
that  the  whole  population  is  interested  in  your  design,  and  that  the  dif- 
ficultv  of  the  committee  will  be,  not  how  to  draw,  but  how  to  exclude. 

I  am  glad  the  suggestion  of  erecting  a  statue  has  prevailed,  and  I 
shall  be  obliged  to  you  to  give  me  an  opportunity  of  adding  my  contri 
bution,  when  it  is  time.  Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

R.  W.  EMERSON. 

R.  W.  GBISWOLD,  <fcc. 

From  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 

WEST  NEWTON,  Feb.  QQth,  1852. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  greatly  regret  that  circumstances  render  it  impossible 
for  me  to  be  present  on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Bryant's  discourse  in  honour 
of  James  Fenimore  Cooper.  No  man  has  a  better  right  to  be  present 
than  myself,  if  many  years  of  most  sincere  and  unwavering  admiration 
of  Mr.  Cooper's  writings  can  establish  a  claim.  It  is  gratifying  to  ob 
serve  the  earnestness  with  which  the  literary  men  of  our  country  unite 
in  paying  honour  to  the  deceased  ;  and  it  may  not  be  too  much  to  hope 
that,  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  at  large,  American  literature  may  hence 
forth  acquire  a  weight  and  value,  which  have  not  heretofore  been  con 
ceded  to  it :  time  and  death  have  begun  to  hallow  it. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

NATH'L  HAWTHORNE. 
REV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD,  &c. 

From  the  Hon.  Charles  Sumner. 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  22d,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir : — It  is  not  in  my  power  to  be  present  at  the  proposed 
demonstration  in  memory  of  the  late  Mr.  Cooper.  But  I  am  glad  of  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  the  invitation  with  which  I  have  been  honoured, 
to  express  my  regard  for  his  name  and  my  joy  that  he  lived  and  wrote. 

As  an  author  of  clear  and  manly  prose,  as  a  pourtrayer  to  the  life  of 
scenes  on  land  or  sea,  as  a  master  of  the  keys  to  human  feelings  and  as 
a  beneficent  contributor  to  the  general  fund  of  happiness,  he  is  remem 
bered  with  delight. 

As  a  patriot  who  loved  his  country,  who  illustrated  its  history,  who 
advanced  its  character  abroad,  and,  by  his  genius,  won  for  it  the  unwill 
ing  regard  of  foreign  nations,  he  deserves  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the 
American  people. 


34  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

I  have  seen  his  works  in  cities  of  France,  Italy,  and  Germany.  In 
all  these  countries  he  was  read  and  admired.  Thus  by  his  pen  Ameri 
can  intervention  was  peacefully,  inoffensively,  and  triumphantly  carried 
into  the  heart  of  the  European  Continent. 

In  honouring  him  we  exalt  literature  and  the  thrice  blessed  arts  of 
peace.  Our  country  will  learn  anew  from  your  demonstration  that  there 
are  glories  other  than  those  of  state  or  of  war. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  dear  sir,  your  obedient  servant. 

CHARLES  SUMXER. 

REV.  RUFUS  W.  GEISWOLD. 

From  Henry  W.  Longfellow. 

CAMBRIDGE,  Mass. 

My  Dear  Sir  : — If  any  thing  could  draw  nie  away  from  my  friends, 
at  this  cold  season,  it  would  be  your  friendly  letter  and  the  occasion 
which  produced  it. 

It  would  give  me  very  sincere  pleasure  to  be  present  on  the  25th,  to 
hear  Mr.  Bryant's  discourse,  and  join  you  in  paying  honour  to  Cooper's 
memory.  The  country  owes  him  a  great  debt  of  gratitude,  and  all  who 
are  of  the  guild  of  authorship  should  show  the  most  alacrity  in  paying 
it.  I  was  in  no  country  of  Europe  where  the  name  of  Cooper  was  not 
familiarly  known.  In  some  of  them  he  stands  as  almost  the  sole  rep 
resentative  of  our  literature  ;  and  knowing  this,  I  should  take  great 
delight  in  listening  to  his  eulogy  from  the  lips  of  Bryant.  But  alas  ! 
my  College  engagements  are  so  imperative,  that  I  cannot  get  away  at 
this  season  even  for  a  couple  of  days.  Pray  express  my  regrets  to  your 
Committee,  and  believe  me,  Very  sincerely  yours, 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW. 

FITZ-GREENE  HALLECK,  ESQ. 

From  Francis  Parkman,  Jr. 

BOSTON,  Mass. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  very  much  regret  that  I  cannot  attend  the  proposed 
meeting  at  Metropolitan  Hall  on  the  25th.  It  is  an  honour  to  the  na 
tional  character,  and  a  good  augury  for  the  national  literature  that  such  a 
tribute  should  be  offered  to  the  memory  of  the  most  original  and  truly 
American  of  our  authors.  For  myself,  I  have  always  felt  a  special  ad 
miration  for  Cooper's  writings.  They  were  my  chosen  favourites  as  a 
boy,  and  though  it  is  at  least  nine  or  ten  years  since  I  opened  them,  yet 
the  scenes  and  characters  of  several  of  his  novels  have  been  so  stamped 
by  the  potency  of  his  art  upon  my  mind  that  I  sometimes  find  it  difficult 
to  separate  them  distinctly  from  the  recollections  of  my  own  past  ex- 


CORRESPONDENCE     OF     THE     COMMITTEE.  35 

periences.  I  may  say,  without  exaggeration,  that  Cooper  has  had  an  in 
fluence  in  determining  the  course  of  my  life  and  pursuits.  It  would  give 
me  high  satisfaction,  if  I  were  able,  to  join  on  this  occasion  in  doing 
homage  to  his  genius.  Believe  me,  very  sincerely,  yours, 

KF.v.Da.Gn.swoLD.  F.  PARKMAN.Ja. 

From  Francis  L.  Hawks,  D.  D. 

NEW  YORK,  Feb.  25th,  1852. 

Dear  Sir : — I  cannot  withhold  the  expression  of  my  regret,  that  cir 
cumstances  will  prevent  my  joining  in  this  tribute  of  respect,  to  be  paid 
this  evening,  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Cooper ;  for  it  is  a  tribute  alike  due 
to  the  dead  and  honourable  to  the  living. 

I  could,  however,  do  little  more  than  by  my  presence  bear  my  hum 
ble  testimony  to  the  moral  and  intellectual  worth  of  one  whose  most 
enduring  monument  will  be  found  in  his  writings. 

Yet  we  owe  it  to  ourselves  to  rear  a  memorial  that  may  perpetuate 
our  sense  of  his  worth ;  and  it  is  a  gratifying  reflection,  that  living,  as 
we  do,  in  an  age  and  country  where  wye  are  of  necessity  obliged  to 
travel  on  the  path  of  what  is  termed  "  utilitarianism,"  in  labouring  on 
what  is  material,  and  subduing  a  continent  for  the  uses  of  civilized 
man,  we  yet  find  cheering  symptoms  of  national  progress  in  another 
direction,  in  the  fact  that  a  public  meeting  can  be  held  to  do  honour  to 
the  triumphs  of  mind  in  the  field  of  pure  literature.  Very  respectfully, 

FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS. 

REV.  Da.  GRISWOLD. 

From  Alfred  B.  Street. 

ALBANY,  Feb.  2lst,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir : — After  an  absence  from  home,  your  letter,  kindly  in 
viting  my  presence  at  Metropolitan  Hall,  on  the  evening  of  the  24th  inst., 
is  received.  You  need  not  be  assured,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  agree  heartily 
with  the  movement  to  do  honour  to  James  Fenimore  Cooper — that  great 
man  whom  America  produced,  not  for  herself  alone  but  the  world. 

Nothing  can  be  more  just  and  right  than  to  erect  a  monument  to 
him.  It  is  not  needed,  to  be  sure,  to  perpetuate  his  memory,  for  his 
works  will  do  that,  but  it  will  serve  as  a  token  of  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  his  admiring  countrymen. 

Your  invitation  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  and  if  my  duties  at 
the  State  Library  will  possibly  allow  me,  I  will  be  present  at  the  pro 
ceeclings.  Believe  me,  yours,  very  truly  and  sincerely, 

ALFRED  B.  STREET. 

REV.  DR.  GRISWOLD. 


36  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

From  Satril  F.  B.  Morse. 

POUGHKEEPSIE,  February  23c?,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir : — I  truly  regret  that  circumstances  over  which  I  have 
no  control,  prevent  my  participation  in  the  services  commemorative  of 
the  character,  literary  and  moral,  of  my  lamented  friend,  the  late  James 
Fenimore  Cooper.  I  can  scarcely  yet  realize  the  melancholy  fact,  that 
he  is  no  longer  with  us,  for  the  announcement  of  his  death  came  upon 
me  most  unexpectedly.  I  can  truly  say  that  the  pleasure  of  years  of 
close  intimacy  was  never  for  a  moment  clouded  by  the  slightest  cool 
ness.  We  were  in  daily,  almost  hourly,  intercourse  while  in  Paris 
during  the  eventful  years  of  1831,  1832.  I  never  met  with  a  more 
sincere,  warm-hearted,  constant  friend.  No  man  came  nearer  to  the 
ideal  I  had  formed  of  a  truly  high-minded  man.  If  he  was  at  times 
severe  or  caustic  in  his  remarks  on  others,  it  was  when  excited  by  the 
exhibition  of  the  little  arts  of  little  minds.  His  own  frank  and  open 
nature  instinctively  recoiled  from  contact  with  them,  though  found 
in  the  saloons  of  ambassadors  or  the  halls  of  royalty.  He  was  an  ar 
dent,  uncompromising  friend  of  his  country's  institutions,  and  defended 
them  when  attacked  at  the  risk  of  the  threatened  loss  of  fame  and  for 
tune. 

His  liberality,  obedient  to  his  generous  sympathies,  was  scarcely 
bounded  by  prudence  ;  he  was  always  ready  to  lend  his  purse  and  his 
pen  to  struggling  merit,  and  many  who  are  now  reaping  the  fruits  of 
his  early  kindness,  will  have  learned  of  his  decease  with  the  most  poig 
nant  sorrow. 

Although  unable  to  be  with  you,  I  trust  the  Committee  will  not 
overlook  me  when  they  collect  the  funds  for  the  contemplated  monu 
ment.  With  sincere  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

SAM'L  F.  B.  MORSE. 

REV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD,  &c. 


From  Joint  P.  Kennedy. 

BALTIMORE,  Feb.  20th,  1852. 

Dear  Sir : — Your  invitation  reached  me  too  late  to  enable  me  to 
participate  in  the.  meeting  which  has  been  held  at  the  City  Hall  in  your 
city,  to  render  appropriate  honours  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Cooper. 

I  rejoice  to  see  what  has  been  done  and  what  you  propose  to  do.  It 
is  due  to  the  eminent  merits  of  Fenimore  Cooper,  that  there  should  be 
an  impressive  public  recognition  of  the  loss  which  our  country  has  sus- 


CORRESPONDENCE     OF     THE     COMMITTEE.  37 

tamed  in  his  death.  He  stood  confessedly  at  the  head  of  a  most  attrac 
tive  and  popular  department  of  our  literature,  in  which  his  extraordi 
nary  success  had  raised  him  up  a  fame  that  became  national.  The 
country  claimed  it  as  its  own.  This  fame  was  acknowledged  and  appre 
ciated  not  only  wherever  the  English  tongue  is  the  medium  of  thought, 
but  every  where  amongst  the  most  civilized  nations  of  Europe. 

Our  literature,  in  the  lifetime  of  the  present  generation,  has  grown 
to  a  maturity  which  has  given  it  a  distinction  and  honourable  place  in 
that  aggregate  which  forms  national  character.  No  man  has  done  more 
in  his  sphere  to  elevate  and  dignify  that  character  than  Fenimore 
Cooper :  no  man  is  more  worthy  than  he,  for  such  services,  of  the  high 
est  honours  appropriate  to  a  literary  benefactor.  His  genius  has  con 
tributed  a  rich  fund  to  the  instruction  and  delight  of  his  countrymen, 
which  will  long  be  preserved  amongst  the  choicest  treasures  of  Ameri 
can  letters,  and  will  equally  induce  to  render  our  national  literature 
attractive  to  other  nations.  We  owe  a  memorial  and  a  monument  to 
the  man  who  has  achieved  this.  This  work  is  the  peculiar  privilege  of 
the  distinguished  scholars  of  New  York,  and  I  have  no  doubt  will  be 
warmly  applauded,  and  if  need  be,  assisted,  by  every  scholar  and  friend 
of  letters  in  the  Union. 

With  the  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  this  enterprise,  I  am,  my 
dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  P.  KENNEDY. 

REV.  Rurus  W.  GRISWOLD. 


From  William  Gil  more  Simms. 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  Feb.  15th,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir : — To  you  who  have  conversed  with  me  respecting 
Cooper,  and  who  have  read  those  essays  and  criticisms  in  which  I  have 
attempted  to  illustrate  and  define  his  characteristics,  it  is  scarcely  neces 
sary  to  say  that  no  literary  man  in  this  country  ever  honoured  his  genius 
and  patriotism  more  than  myself.  If  I  can  do  any  thing  here  in  the 
South  to  promote  your  purposes  in  this  matter  call  upon  me.  But  your 
letter  reaches  me  just  as  I  am  preparing  to  follow  my  family  up  to  the 
plantation,  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  avail  myself  of  the  tendered 
honour  and  satisfaction  of  meeting  so  many  of  our  eminent  men  on  this 
most  interesting  occasion.  Yours,  very  sincerely, 

W.  G.  SIMMS. 
REV.  DR.  GRISWOLD. 


38  THE     MEMORY      OF     COOPER. 

From  Mr.  John  R.  Thompson. 

RICHMOND,  Feb.  20th,  1852. 

Gentlemen  : — I  am  honoured  by  your  letter,  inviting  me  to  be  with 
you  on  the  evening  of  the  24th  of  February,  to  unite  iu  your  fitting 
demonstration  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  late  James  Fenimore 
Cooper.  An  occasion  of  such  peculiar  interest  rarely  occurs,  and  it  is 
therefore  with  very  great  regret  that  I  am  compelled  to  forego  the  satis 
faction  of  being  present.  In  offering  you  my  thanks  for  the  invitation 
you  have  given  me,  which  was  to  myself  so  unexpected,  I  cannot  forbear 
saying  how  much,  in  my  poor  judgment,  the  testimonial  you  propose 
does  honour  to  yourselves  as  men,  and  as  votaries  of  that  noble  pursuit 
of  letters,  of  which,  in  America,  Mr.  Cooper  was  the  most  distinguished 
and  successful  follower.  The  arrangements  are  all  in  keeping  with  the 
excellent  design,  and  contemplate  such  tributes  as  might  have  been  paid 
to  a  fallen  philosopher,  by  his  brethren  of  the  schools,  in  the  grandest 
days  of  Greece.  The  presence  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  living  states 
men,  as  presiding  officer,  and  the  most  delightful  of  living  essayists,  while 
it  may  add  nothing  to  the  fame  of  the  dead,  will  lend  a  rare  dignity  to 
the  occasion,  and  a  discourse  from  the  lips  of  one  of  the  most  exalted  of 
living  poets,  while  it  may  not,  in  any  degree,  raise  your  estimate  of  the 
genius  that  has  been  withdrawn  from  the  world,  will  yet  worthily  illus 
trate  the  character  and  intellect  of  "  the  prose  poet  of  the  woods  and 
seas,"  whose  loss  has  been  lamented  wherever  literature  is  valued  among 
men.  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  gentlemen,  with  high  regard,  very  sin 
cerely  yours,  JOHN  R.  THOMPSON. 

REV.  RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD  and  FITZ-GREENE  HALLECK 

From  Mr.  Charles  G.  Leland. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Feb.  22d,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir : — I  regret  extremely  that  business  prevents  my  accept 
ing  your  invitation  to  the  meeting  in  honour  of  Cooper.  As  any  infor 
mation,  however  unimportant,  relative  to  our  illustrious  novelist  may 
not  be  without  value  at  this  moment,  I  take  the  liberty  of  communi 
cating  a  few  facts  relative  to  the  dissemination  of  his  works  in  Germany. 
So  long  ago  as  1827,  her  most  eminent  critic  spoke  of  Cooper's  great 
popularity  among  the  people  of  Germany.  Several  translations  of  most 
of  his  works  have  appeared,  some  of  them  executed  by  celebrated 
men,  who  would  undertake  translations  of  none  but  authors  of  the 
highest  character  for  genius.  His  "  entire  works,  translated  by  several 
persons,"  were  published  at  Frankfort  in  1827,  in  250  parts.  Of  this 
collection  a  second  large  edition  appeared  in  1834,  and  a  third  in  1851. 


\v.   c. 

All  his  works,  even  more  than  those  of  Shakspeare  or  Scott,  are  house 
hold  words  to  the  German  people.  These  facts  illustrate  a  popularity 
enjoyed  in  that  country  by  no  other  American.  Indeed,  our  Cooper,  I 
observed  generally,  during  my  residence  in  Germany,  was  by  the  gen 
eral  consent  ranked  among  the  greatest  masters  of  romantic  fiction  pro 
duced  in  any  country  or  age.  I  hope  the  proposed  tribute  will  be  worthy 
of  New  York.  Respectfully  yours,  CHARLES  G.  LELAKD. 

REV.  DR.  GRISWOLD. 

The  reading  of  the  Committee's  correspondence  having 
been  concluded,  Mr.  WEBSTER  rose,  and  bowing,  said  : 

Mr.  BRYANT  will  now  proceed  to  pronounce  a  discourse  on 
the  Life,  Character,  and  Genius  of  JAMES  FENIMORE  COOPER. 

Mr.  BRYANT  came  forward,  greeted  by  the  cheers  of  the 
assembly,  and  read  as  follows  : 

It  is  now  somewhat  more  than  a  year,  since  the  friends 
of  JAMES  FENIMORE  COOPER,  in  this  city,  were  planning  to 
give  a  public  dinner  in  his  honour.  It  was  intended  as  an 
expression  both  of  the  regard  they  bore  him  personally,  and 
of  the  pride  they  took  in  the  glory  his  writings  had  reflected 
on  the  American  name.  We  thought  of  what  we  should  say 
in  his  hearing ;  in  what  terms,  worthy  of  him  and  of  us,  we 
should  speak  of  the  esteem  in  which  we  held  him,  and  of  the 
interest  we  felt  in  a  fame  which  had  already  penetrated  to 
the  remotest  nook  of  the  earth  inhabited  by  civilized  man. 

To-day  we  assemble  for  a  sadder  purpose :  to  pay  to  the 
dead  some  part  of  the  honours  then  intended  for  the  living. 
We  bring  our  offering,  but  he  is  not  here  who  should  receive 
it ;  in  his  stead  are  vacancy  and  silence ;  there  is  no  eye  to 
brighten  at  our  words,  and  no  voice  to  answer.  "It  is  an 
empty  office  that  we  perform,"  said  Virgil,  in  his  melodious 
verses,  when  commemorating  the  virtues  of  the  young  Mar- 


40  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

cellus,  and  bidding  flowers  be  strewn,  with  full  hands,  over 
his  early  grave.  We  might  apply  the  expression  to  the 
present  occasion,  but  it  would  be  true  in  part  only.  We  can 
no  longer  do  any  thing  for  him  who  is  departed,  but  we  may 
do  what  will  not  be  without  fruit  to  those  who  remain.  It  is 
good  to  occupy  our  thoughts  with  the  example  of  great  talents 
in  conjunction  with  great  virtues.  His  genius  has  passed 
away  with  him ;  but  we  may  learn,  from  the  history  of  his  life, 
to  employ  the  faculties  we  possess  with  useful  activity  and 
noble  aims;  we  may  copy  his  magnanimous  frankness,  his 
disdain  of  every  thing  that  wears  the  faintest  semblance  of  de 
ceit,  his  refusal  to  comply  with  current  abuses,  and  the  courage 
with  which,  on  all  occasions,  he  asserted  what  he  deemed 
truth,  and  combated  what  he  thought  error. 

The  circumstances  of  Cooper's  early  life  were  remarkably 
suited  to  confirm  the  natural  hardihood  and  manliness  of  his 
character,  and  to  call  forth  and  exercise  that  extraordinary 
power  of  observation,  which  accumulated  the  materials  after 
wards  wielded  and  shaped  by  his  genius.  His  father,  while 
an  inhabitant  of  Burlington,  in  New  Jersey,  on  the  pleasant 
banks  of  the  Delaware,  was  the  owner  of  large  possessions  on 
the  borders  of  the  Otsego  Lake,  in  our  own  state,  and  here, 
in  the  newly-cleared  fields,  he  built,  in  1786,  the  first  house 
in  Cooperstown.  To  this  home,  Cooper,  who  was  born  in 
Burlington,  in  the  year  1789,  was  conveyed  in  his  infancy, 
and  here,  as  he  informs  us  in  his  preface  to  the  Pioneers, 
his  first  impressions  of  the  external  world  were  obtained. 
Here  he  passed  his  childhood,  with  the  vast  forest  around 
him,  stretching  up  the  mountains  that  overlook  the  lake,  and 
far  beyond,  in  a  region  where  the  Indian  yet  roamed,  and  the 


w.    c.   BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  41 

white  hunter,  half  Indian  in  his  dress  and  mode  of  life,  sought 
his  game, — a  region  in  which  the  bear  and  the  wolf  were  yet 
hunted,  and  the  panther,  more  formidable  than  either,  lurked 
in  the  thickets,  and  tales  of  wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  and 
encounters  with  these  fierce  animals,  beguiled  the  length  of 
the  winter  nights.  Of  this  place,  Cooper,  although  early  re 
moved  from  it  to  pursue  his  studies,  was  an  occasional  resident 
throughout  his  life,  and  here  his  last  years  were  wholly  passed. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was  sent  to  Yale  College,  where, 
notwithstanding  his  extreme  youth, — for,  with  the  exception 
of  the  poet,  Hillhouse,  he  was  the  youngest  of  his  class,  and 
Hillhouse  was  afterwards  withdrawn, — his  progress  in  his 
studies  is  said  to  have  been  honourable  to  his  talents.  He 
left  the  college,  after  a  residence  of  three  years,  and  became 
a  midshipman  in  the  United  States  navy.  Six  years  he  fol 
lowed  the  sea,  and  there  yet  wanders,  among  those  who  are 
fond  of  literary  anecdote,  a  story  of  the  young  sailor  who,  in 
the  streets  of  one  of  the  English  ports,  attracted  the  curiosity 
of  the  crowd,  by  explaining  to  his  companions  a  Latin  motto 
in  some  public  place.  That  during  this  period  he  made  him 
self  master  of  the  knowledge  and  the  imagery  which  he  after 
wards  employed  to  so  much  advantage  in  his  romances  of  the 
sea,  the  finest  ever  written,  is  a  common  and  obvious  remark ; 
but  it  has  not  been,  so  far  as  I  know,  observed  that  from  the 
discipline  of  a  seaman's  life  he  may  have  derived  much  of 
his  readiness  and  fertility  of  invention,  much  of  his  skill  in 
surrounding  the  personages  of  his  novels  with  imaginary 
perils,  and  rescuing  them  by  probable  expedients.  Of  all 
pursuits,  the  life  of  a  sailor  is  that  which  familiarizes  men  to 
danger  in  its  most  fearful  shapes,  most  cultivates  presence 


42  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER, 

of  mind,  and  most  effectually  calls  forth  the  resources  of 
prompt  and  fearless  dexterity  by  which  imminent  evil  is 
avoided. 

In  1811,  Cooper,  having  resigned  his  post  as  midshipman, 
began  the  year  by  marrying  Miss  Delancey,  sister  of  the 
present  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  "Western  New  York,  and 
entered  upon  a  domestic  life  happily  passed  to  its  close.  He 
went  to  live  at  Mamaroneck,  in  the  county  of  Westchester, 
and  while  here  he  wrote  and  published  the  first  of  his  novels, 
entitled  Precaution.  Concerning  the  occasion  of  writing  this 
work,  it  is  related,  that  once,  as  he  was  reading  an  English 
novel  to  Mrs.  Cooper,  who  has,  within  a  short  time  past,  been 
laid  in  the  grave  beside  her  illustrious  husband,  and  of  whom 
we  may  now  say,  that  her  goodness  was  no  less  eminent  than 
his  genius,  he  suddenly  laid  down  the  book,  and  said,  "I 
believe  I  could  write  a  better  myself."  Almost  immediately 
he  composed  a  chapter  of  a  projected  work  of  fiction,  and  read 
it  to  the  same  friendly  judge,  who  encouraged  him  to  finish  it, 
and  when  it  was  completed,  suggested  its  publication.  Of 
this  he  had  at  the  time  no  intention,  but  he  was  at  length 
induced  to  submit  the  manuscript  to  the  examination  of  the 
late  Charles  Wilkes,  of  this  city,  in  whose  literary  opinions 
he  had  great  confidence.  Mr.  Wilkes  advised  that  it  should 
be  published,  and  to  these  circumstances  we  owe  it  that 
Cooper  became  an  author. 

I  confess  I  have  merely  dipped  into  this  work.  The  ex 
periment  was  made  with  the  first  edition,  deformed  by  a 
strange  punctuation  —  a  profusion  of  commas,  and  other 
pauses,  which  puzzled  and  repelled  me.  Its  author,  many 
years  afterwards,  revised  and  republished  it,  correcting  this 


w.    c.    BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  43 

fault,  and  some  faults  of  style  also,  so  that  to  a  casual  inspec 
tion,  it  appeared  almost  another  work.  It  was  a  professed 
delineation  of  English  manners,  though  the  author  had  then 
seen  nothing  of  English  society.  It  had,  however,  the  honour 
of  being  adopted  by  the  country  whose  manners  it  described, 
and,  being  early  republished  in  Great  Britain,  passed  from 
the  first  for  an  English  novel.  I  am  not  unwilling  to  believe 
what  is  said  of  it,  that  it  contained  a  promise  of  the  powers 
which  its  author  afterwards  put  forth. 

Thirty  years  ago,  in  the  year  1821,  and  in  the  thirty- 
second  of  his  life,  Cooper  published  the  first  of  the  works  by 
which  he  will  be  known  to  posterity,  the  Spy.  It  took 
the  reading  world  by  a  kind  of  surprise ;  its  merit  was  ac 
knowledged  by  a  rapid  sale ;  the  public  read  with  eagerness 
and  the  critics  wondered.  Many  withheld  their  commenda 
tions  on  account  of  defects  in  the  plot  or  blemishes  in  the 
composition,  arising  from  want  of  practice,  and  some  waited 
till  they  could  hear  the  judgment  of  European  readers.  Yet 
there  were  not  wanting  critics  in  this  country,  of  whose  good 
opinion  any  author  in  any  part  of  the  world  might  be  proud, 
who  spoke  of  it  in  the  terms  it  deserved.  "  Are  you  not  de 
lighted,"  wrote  a  literary  friend  to  me,  who  has  since  risen  to 
high  distinction  as  a  writer,  both  in  verse  and  in  prose,  "  are 
you  not  delighted  with  the  Spy,  as  a  work  of  infinite  spirit 
and  genius'?"  In  that  word  genius  lay  the  explanation  of  the 
hold  which  the  work  had  taken  on  the  minds  of  men.  What 
it  had  of  excellence  was  peculiar  and  unborrowed;  its  pic 
tures  of  life,  whether  in  repose  or  activity,  were  drawn,  with 
broad  lights  and  shadows,  immediately  from  living  originals 
in  nature  or  in  his  own  imagination.  To  him,  whatever  he 


44  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

described  was  true;  it  was  made  a  reality  to  him  by  the 
strength  with  which  he  conceived  it.  His  power  in  the  delin 
eation  of  character  was  shown  in  the  principal  personage  of  his 
story,  Harvey  Birch,  on  whom,  though  he  has  chosen  to  em 
ploy  him  in  the  ignoble  office  of  a  spy,  and  endowed  him  with 
the  qualities  necessary  to  his  profession, — extreme  circum 
spection,  fertility  in  stratagem,  and  the  art  of  concealing  his 
real  character, — qualities  which,  in  conjunction  with  selfishness 
and  greediness,  make  the  scoundrel,  he  has  bestowed  the  vir 
tues  of  generosity,  magnanimity,  an  intense  love  of  country, 
a  fidelity  not  to  be  corrupted,  and  a  disinterestedness  beyond 
temptation.  Out  of  this  combination  of  qualities  he  has 
wrought  a  character  which  is  a  favourite  in  all  nations,  and 
with  all  classes  of  mankind. 

It  is  said  that  if  you  cast  a  pebble  into  the  ocean,  at  the 
mouth  of  our  harbour,  the  vibration  made  in  the  water  passes 
gradually  on  till  it  strikes  the  icy  barriers  of  the  deep  at 
the  south  pole.  The  spread  of  Cooper's  reputation  is  not 
confined  within  narrower  limits.  The  Spy  is  read  in  all  the 
written  dialects  of  Europe,  and  in  some  of  those  of  Asia. 
The  French,  immediately  after  its  first  appearance,  gave  it  to 
the  multitudes  who  read  their  far-diffused  language,  and 
placed  it  among  the  first  works  of  its  class.  It  was  rendered 
into  Castilian,  and  passed  into  the  hands  of  those  who  dwell 
under  the  beams  of  the  Southern  Cross.  At  length  it  passed 
the  eastern  frontier  of  Europe,  and  the  latest  record  I  have 
seen  of  its  progress  towards  absolute  universality,  is  contained 
in  a  statement  of  the  International  Magazine,  derived,  I  pre 
sume,  from  its  author,  that  in  1847  it  was  published  in  a 
Persian  translation  at  Ispahan.  Before  this  time,  I  doubt  not, 


W.     C.     BRYANT'S     DISCOURSE.  45 

they  are  reading  it  in  some  of  the  languages  of  Hiiidostan, 
and,  if  the  Chinese  ever  translated  any  thing,  it  would  be  in 
the  hands  of  the  many  millions  who  inhabit  the  far  Cathay. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  hesitation  which  American  critics  felt 
in  admitting  the  merits  of  the  Spy,  on  account  of  crudities  in 
the  plot  or  the  composition,  some  of  which  no  doubt  really 
existed.  An  exception  must  be  made  in  favour  of  the  Port 
Folio,  which,  in  a  notice  written  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Hall,  mother 
of  the  editor  of  that  periodical,  and  author  of  Conversations 
on  the  Bible,  gave  the  work  a  cordial  welcome ;  and  Cooper, 
as  I  am  informed,  never  forgot  this  act  of  timely  and  ready 
kindness. 

It  was  perhaps  favourable  to  the  immediate  success  of  the 
Spy,  that  Cooper  had  few  American  authors  to  divide  with 
him  the  public  attention.  That  crowd  of  clever  men  and  wo 
men  who  now  write  for  the  magazines,  who  send  out  volumes 
of  essays,  sketches,  and  poems,  and  who  supply  the  press  with 
novels,  biographies  and  historical  works,  were  then,  for  the 
most  part,  either  stammering  their  lessons  in  the  schools,  or 
yet  unborn.  Yet  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that  just  about  the  time 
that  the  Spy  made  its  appearance,  the  dawn  of  what  we 
now  call  our  literature  was  just  breaking.  The  concluding 
number  of  Dana's  Idle  Man,  a  work  neglected  at  first,  but 
now  numbered  among  the  best  things  of  the  kind  in  our  lan 
guage,  was  issued  in  the  same  month.  The  Sketch  Book 
was  then  just  completed ;  the  world  was  admiring  it,  and  its 
author  was  meditating  Bracelridge  Hall.  Miss  Sedgwick, 
about  the  same  time,  made  her  first  essay  in  that  charming 
series  of  novels  of  domestic  life  in  New  England,  which  have 
gained  her  so  high  a  reputation.  Percival,  now  unhappily 


46  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

silent,  had  just  put  to  press  a  volume  of  poems.  I  have  a 
copy  to  an  edition  of  Halleck's  Fanny,  published  in  the 
same  year;  the  poem  of  Yamoyden,  by  Eastburn  and 
Sands,  appeared  almost  simultaneously  with  it.  Livingston 
was  putting  the  finishing  hand  to  his  Report  on  the  Penal 
Code  of  Louisiana,  a  work  written  with  such  grave, 
persuasive  eloquence,  that  it  belongs  as  much  to  our 
literature  as  to  our  jurisprudence.  Other  contemporaneous 
American  works  there  wrere,  now  less  read.  Paul  Allen's 
poem  of  Noah  was  just  laid  on  the  counters  of  the  book 
sellers.  Arden  published  at  the  same  time,  in  this  city,  a 
translation  of  Ovid's  Tristia,  in  heroic  verse,  in  which  the 
complaints  of  the  effeminate  Roman  poet  were  rendered  with 
great  fidelity  to  the  original,  and  sometimes  not  without 
beauty.  If  I  may  speak  of  myself,  it  was  in  that  year  that  I 
timidly  entrusted  to  the  winds  and  waves  of  public  opinion  a 
small  cargo  of  my  own — a  poem  entitled  The  Ages,  and  half 
a  dozen  shorter  ones,  in  a  thin  duodecimo  volume,  printed  at 
Cambridge. 

We  had,  at  the  same  time,  works  of  elegant  literature, 
fresh  from  the  press  of  Great  Britain,  which  are  still  read  and 
admired.  Barry  Cornwall,  then  a  young  suitor  for  fame, 
published  in  the  same  year  his  Marcia  Colonna  ;  Byron,  in 
the  full  strength  and  fertility  of  his  genius,  gave  the  readers 
of  English  his  tragedy  of  Marino  Faliero,  and  was  in  the 
midst  of  his  spirited  controversy  with  Bowles  concerning  the 
poetry  of  Pope.  The  Spy  had  to  sustain  a  comparison  with 
Scott's  Antiquary,  published  simultaneously  with  it,  and  with 
Lockhart's  Valerius,  which  seems  to  me  one  of  the  most  re 
markable  works  of  fiction  ever  composed. 


47 

In  1823,  and  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  Cooper  brought  out 
his  novel  of  the  Pioneers,  the  scene  of  which  was  laid  on  the 
borders  of  his  own  beautiful  lake.  In  a  recent  survey  of  Mr. 
Cooper's  works,  by  one  of  his  admirers,  it  is  intimated  that 
the  reputation  of  this  work  may  have  been  in  some  degree 
factitious.  I  cannot  think  so ;  I  cannot  see  how  such  a  work 
could  fail  of  becoming,  sooner  or  later,  a  favourite.  It  was 
several  years  after  its  first  appearance  that  I  read  the  Pioneers, 
and  I  read  it  with  a  delighted  astonishment.  Here,  said  I  to 
myself,  is  the  poet  of  rural  life  in  this  country — our  Hesiod, 
our  Theocritus,  except  that  he  writes  without  the  restraint  of 
numbers,  and  is  a  greater  poet  than  they.  In  the  Pioneers,  as 
in  a  moving  picture,  are  made  to  pass  before  us  the  hardy  oc 
cupations  and  spirited  amusements  of  a  prosperous  settlement, 
in  a  fertile  region,  encompassed  for  leagues  around  with  the 
primeval  wilderness  of  woods.  The  seasons  in  their  different 
aspects,  bringing  with  them  their  different  employments ;  for 
ests  falling  before  the  axe ;  the  cheerful  population,  with  the  first 
mild  day  of  spring,  engaged  in  the  sugar-orchards ;  the  chase 
of  the  deer  through  the  deep  woods,  and  into  the  lake ;  tur 
key-shootings,  during  the  Christmas  holidays,  in  which  the  In 
dian  marksman  vied  for  the  prize  of  skill  with  the  white  man ; 
swift  sleigh-rides  under  the  bright  winter  sun,  and  perilous 
encounters  with  wild  animals  in  the  forests ;  these,  and  other 
scenes  of  rural  life,  drawn,  as  Cooper  knew  how  to  draw 
them,  in  the  bright  and  healthful  colouring  of  which  he  was 
master,  are  interwoven  with  a  regular  narrative  of  human  for 
tunes,  not  unskilfully  constructed ;  and  how  could  such  a  work 
be  otherwise  than  popular  1 

In  the   Pioneers,  Leatherstocking   is  first   introduced — a 


48  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

philosopher  of  the  woods,  ignorant  of  books,  but  instructed  in 
all  that  nature,  without  the  aid  of  science,  could  reveal  to  the 
man  of  quick  senses  and  inquiring  intellect,  whose  life  has 
been  passed  under  the  open  sky,  and  in  companionship  with  a 
race  whose  animal  perceptions  are  the  acutest  and  most  culti 
vated  of  which  there  is  any  example.  But  Leatherstocking 
has  higher  qualities ;  in  him  there  is  a  genial  blending  of  the 
gentlest  virtues  of  the  civilized  man  with  the  better  nature  of 
the  aboriginal  tribes ;  all  that  in  them  is  noble,  generous,  and 
ideal,  is  adopted  into  his  own  kindly  character,  and  all  that  is 
evil  is  rejected.  But  why  should  I  attempt  to  analyze  a  char 
acter  so  familiar?  Leatherstocking  is  acknowledged,  on  all 
hands,  to  be  one  of  the  noblest,  as  well  as  most  striking  and 
original  creations  of  fiction.  In  some  of  his  subsequent  nov 
els,  Cooper — for  he  had  not  yet  attained  to  the  full  maturity 
of  his  powers— heightened  and  ennobled  his  first  conception 
of  the  character,  but  in  the  Pioneers  it  dazzled  the  world  with 
the  splendour  of  novelty. 

His  next  work  was  the  Pilot,  in  which  he  showed  how, 
from  the  vicissitudes  of  a  life  at  sea,  its  perils  and  escapes, 
from  the  beauty  and  terrors  of  the  great  deep,  from  the  work 
ing  of  a  vessel  on  a  long  voyage,  and  from  the  frank,  brave 
and  generous,  but  peculiar  character  of  the  seaman,  may  be 
drawn  materials  of  romance  by  which  the  minds  of  men  may 
be  as  deeply  moved  as  by  any  thing  in  the  power  of  romance 
to  present.  In  this  walk,  Cooper  has  had  many  disciples,  but 
no  rival.  All  who  have  sjnce  written  romances  of  the  sea 
have  been  but  travellers  in  a  country  of  which  he  was  the 
great  discoverer,  and  none  of  them  all  seemed  to  have  loved 
a  ship  as  Cooper  loved  it.  or  have  been  able  so  strongly  to  in- 


W.     C.     BRYANTS     DISCOURSE.  49 

terest  all  classes  of  readers  in  its  fortunes.  Among  other  per 
sonages  drawn  with  great  strength  in  the  Pilot,  is  the  general 
favourite,  Tom  Coffin,  the  thorough  seaman,  with  all  the  vir 
tues,  and  one  or  two  of  the  infirmities  of  his  profession,  super 
stitious,  as  seamen  are  apt  to  be,  yet  whose  superstitions  strike 
us  as  but  an  irregular  growth  of  his  devout  recognition  of  the 
Power  who  holds  the  ocean  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand ;  true- 
hearted,  gentle,  full  of  resources,  collected  in  danger,  and  at 
last  calmly  perishing  at  the  post  of  duty,  with  the  vessel  he 
has  long  guided,  by  what  I  may  call  a  great  and  magnanimous 
death.  His  rougher  and  coarser  companion,  Boltrope,  is 
drawn  with  scarcely  less  skill,  and  with  a  no  less  vigorous 
hand. 

The  Pioneers  is  not  Cooper's  best  tale  of  the  American 
forest,  nor  the  Pilot,  perhaps,  in  all  respects,  his  best  tale  of 
the  sea ;  yet,  if  he  had  ceased  to  write  here,  the  measure  of 
his  fame  would,  possibly,  have  been  scarcely  less  ample  than 
it  now  is.  Neither  of  them  is  far  below  the  best  of  his  pro 
ductions,  and  in  them  appear  the  two  most  remarkable  crea 
tions  of  his  imagination — two  of  the  most  remarkable  charac 
ters  in  all  fiction. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  my  acquaintance  writh  Cooper 
began,  an  acquaintance  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  centuiry, 
in  which  his  deportment  towards  me  was  that  of  unvaried 
kindness.  He  then  resided  a  considerable  part  of  the  year  in 
this  city,  and  here  he  had  founded  a  weekly  club,  to  which 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  place  belonged. 
Of  the  members  who  have  since  passed  away,  were  Chancellor 
Kent,  the  jurist ;  Wiley,  the  intelligent  and  liberal  bookseller ; 


50  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

Henry  D.  Sedgwick,  always  active  in  schemes  of  benevolence ; 
Jarvis,  the  painter,  a  man  of  infinite  humour,  whose  jests 
awoke  inextinguishable  laughter;  De  Kay,  the  naturalist; 
Sands,  the  poet ;  Jacob  Harvey,  whose  genial  memory  is  cher 
ished  by  many  friends.  Of  those  who  are  yet  living  was 
Morse,  the  inventor  of  the  electric  telegraph ;  Durand,  then  one 
of  the  first  of  engravers,  and  now  no  less  illustrious  as  a  painter ; 
Henry  James  Anderson,  whose  acquirements  might  awaken 
the  envy  of  the  ripest  scholars  of  the  old  world ;  Halleck,  the 
poet  and  wit ;  Verplanck,  who  has  given  the  world  the  best 
edition  of  Shakspeare  for  general  readers ;  Dr.  King,  now  at 
the  head  of  Columbia  College,  and  his  two  immediate  prede 
cessors  in  that  office.  I  might  enlarge  the  list  with  many  other 
names  of  no  less  distinction.  The  army  and  navy  contributed 
their  proportion  of  members,  whose  names  are  on  record  in 
our  national  history.  Cooper  when  in  town  was  always  pres 
ent,  and  I  remember  being  struck  with  the  inexhaustible  vi 
vacity  of  his  conversation  and  the  minuteness  of  his  knowledge? 
in  every  thing  which  depended  upon  acuteness  of  observa 
tion  and  exactness  of  recollection.  I  remember,  too,  being 
somewhat  startled,  coming  as  I  did  from  the  seclusion  of  a 
country  life,  with  a  certain  emphatic  frankness  in  his  manner, 
which,  however,  I  came  at  last  to  like  and  to  admire.  The 
club  met  in  the  hotel  called  Washington  Hall,  the  site  of  which 
is  now  occupied  by  part  of  the  circuit  of  Stewart's  marble 
building. 

Lionel  Lincoln,  which  cannot  be  ranked  among  the  suc 
cessful  productions  of  Cooper,  was  published  in  1825 ;  and  in 
the  year  following  appeared  the  Last  of  the  Mohicans,  which 
more  than  recovered  the  ground  lost  by  its  predecessor.  In 


w.    c.   BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  51 

this  work,  the  construction  of  the  narrative  has  signal  defects, 
but  it  is  one  of  the  triumphs  of  the  author's  genius,  that  he 
makes  us  unconscious  of  them  while  we  read.  It  is  only 
when  we  have  had  time  to  awake  from  the  intense  interest  in 
which  he  has  held  us  by  the  vivid  reality  of  his  narrative,  and 
have  begun  to  search  for  faults  in  cold  blood,  that  we  are  able 
to  find  them.  In  the  Last  of  the  Mohicans  we  have  a  bolder 
portraiture  of  Leatherstocking  than  in  the  Pioneers. 

This  work  was  published  in  1826,  and  in  the  same  year 
Cooper  sailed  with  his  family  for  Europe.  He  left  New 
York  as  one  of  the  vessels  of  war,  described  in  his  romances 
of  the  sea,  goes  out  of  port,  amidst  the  thunder  of  a  parting 
salute  from  the  big  guns  on  the  batteries.  A  dinner  was 
given  him  just  before  his  departure,  attended  by  most  of  the 
distinguished  men  of  the  city,  at  which  Peter  A.  Jay  presided, 
and  Dr.  King  addressed  him  in  terms  which  some  then 
thought  too  glowing,  but  which  would  now  seem  sufficiently 
temperate,  expressing  the  good  wishes  of  his  friends,  and 
dwelling  on  the  satisfaction  they  promised  themselves  in  pos 
sessing  so  illustrious  a  representative  of  American  literature 
in  the  old  world.  Cooper  was  scarcely  in  France  when  he  re 
membered  his  friends  of  the  weekly  club,  and  sent  frequent 
missives  to  be  read  at  its  meetings  ;  but  the  club  missed  its 
founder,  went  into  a  decline,  and  not  long  afterwards  quietly 
expired. 

The  first  of  Cooper's  novels  published  after  leaving  Amer 
ica  was  the  Prairie,  which  appeared  early  in  1827,  a  work, 
with  the  admirers  of  which  I  wholly  agree.  I  read  it  with  a 
certain  awe,  an  undefined  sense  of  sublimity,  such  as  one  ex 
periences  on  entering,  for  the  first  time,  upon  these  immense 


52  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

grassy  deserts  from  which  the  work  takes  its  name.  The 
squatter  and  his  family — that  brawny  old  man  and  his  large- 
limbed  sons,  living  in  a  sort  of  primitive  and  patriarchal  bar 
barism,  sluggish  on  ordinary  occasions,  but  terrible  when 
roused,  like  the  hurricane  that  sweeps  the  grand  but  monoto 
nous  wilderness  in  which  they  dwell — seem  a  natural  growth  of 
those  ancient  fields  of  the  west.  Leatherstocking,  a  hunter  in 
the  Pioneers,  a  warrior  in  the  Last  of  the  Mohicans,  and  now, 
in  his  extreme  old  age,  a  trapper  on  the  prairie,  declined  in 
strength,  but  undecayed  in  intellect,  and  looking  to  the  near 
close  of  his  life,  and  a  grave  under  the  long  grass,  as  calmly 
as  the  labourer  at  sunset  looks  to  his  evening  slumber,  is  no 
less  in  harmony  with  the  silent  desert  in  which  he  wanders. 
Equally  so  are  the  Indians,  still  his  companions,  copies  of  the 
American  savage  somewhat  idealized,  but  not  the  less  a  part 
of  the  wild  nature  in  which  they  have  their  haunts. 

Before  the  year  closed,  Cooper  had  given  the  world  another 
nautical  tale,  the  Red  Rover,  which,  writh  many,  is  a  greater 
favourite  than  the  Pilot,  and  with  reason,  perhaps,  if  we  con 
sider  principally  the  incidents,  which  are  conducted  and  de 
scribed  with  a  greater  mastery  over  the  springs  of  pity  and 
terror. 

It  happened  to  Cooper  while  he  was  abroad,  as  it  not  un- 
frequently  happens  to  our  countrymen,  to  hear  the  United 
States  disadvantageously  compared  with  Europe.  He  had 
himself  been  a  close  observer  of  things  both  here  and  in  the 
old  world,  and  was  conscious  of  being  able  to  refute  the  de 
tractors  of  his  country  in  regard  to  many  points.  He  pub 
lished  in  1828,  after  he  had  been  two  years  in  Europe,  a  series 
of  letters,  entitled  Notions  of  the  Americans,  by  a  Travelling 


53 

Bachelor,  in  which  he  gave  a  favourable  account  of  the  working 
of  our  institutions,  and  vindicated  his  country  from  various 
flippant  and  ill-natured  misrepresentations  of  foreigners.  It  is 
rather  too  measured  in  style,  but  is  written  from  a  mind  full 
of  the  subject,  and  from  a  memory  wonderfully  stored  with 
particulars.  Although  twenty-four  years  have  elapsed  since 
its  publication,  but  little  of  the  vindication  has  become 
obsolete. 

Cooper  loved  his  country  and  was  proud  of  her  history  and 
her  institutions,  but  it  puzzles  many  that  he  should  have  ap 
peared,  at  different  times,  as  her  eulogist  and  her  censor. 
My  friends,  she  is  worthy  both  of  praise  and  of  blame,  and 
Cooper  was  not  the  man  to  shrink  from  bestowing  either,  at 
what  seemed  to  him  the  proper  time.  He  defended  her  from 
detractors  abroad ;  he  sought  to  save  her  from  flatterers  at 
home.  I  will  not  say  that  he  was  in  as  good  humour  with  his 
country  when  he  wrote  Home  as  Found,  as  when  he  wrote 
his  Notions  of  the  Americans,  but  this  I  will  say,  that  whether 
he  commended  or  censured,  he  did  it  in  the  sincerity  of  his 
heart,  as  a  true  American,  and  in  the  belief  that  it  would  do 
good.  His  Notions  of  the  Americans  were  more  likely  to 
lessen  than  to  increase  his  popularity  in  Europe,  inasmuch  as 
they  were  put  forth  without  the  slightest  regard  to  European 
prejudices. 

In  1829  he  brought  out  the  novel  entitled  the  Wept  of 
Wish-ton-  Wish,  one  of  the  few  of  his  works  which  we  now 
rarely  hear  mentioned.  He  was  engaged  in  the  composition 
of  a  third  nautical  tale,  which  he  afterwards  published  under 
the  name  of  the  Water-  Witch,  when  the  memorable,  revolu 
tion  of  the  Three  Days  of  July  broke  out.  He  saw  a  govern- 


54  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

ment,  ruling  by  fear  and  in  defiance  of  public  opinion,  over 
thrown  in  a  few  hours,  with  little  bloodshed ;  ho  saw  the 
French  nation,  far  from  being  intoxicated  with  their  new  lib 
erty,  peacefully  addressing  themselves  to  the  discussion  of  the 
institutions  under  which  they  were  to  live.  A  work  which 
Cooper  afterwards  published,  his  Residence  in  Europe,  gives 
the  outline  of  a  plan  of  government  for  France,  furnished  by 
him  at  that  time  to  La  Fayette,  with  whom  he  was  then  on 
habits  of  close  and  daily  intimacy.  It  was  his  idea  to  give 
permanence  to  the  new  order  of  things  by  associating  two 
strong  parties  in  its  support,  the  friends  of  legitimacy  and  the 
republicans.  He  suggested  that  Henry  V.  should  be  called 
to  the  hereditary  throne  of  France,  a  youth  yet  to  be  educa 
ted  as  the  head  of  a  free  people,  that  the  peerage  should  be 
abolished,  and  a  legislature  of  two  chambers  established,  with 
a  constituency  of  at  least  a  million  and  a  half  of  electors  ;  the 
senate  to  be  chosen  by  the  general  vote,  as  the  representatives 
of  the  entire  nation,  and  the  members  of  the  other  house  to  be 
chosen  by  districts,  as  the  representatives  of  the  local  interests. 
To  the  middle  ground  of  politics  so  ostentatiously  occupied  by 
Louis  Philippe  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  he  predicted  a 
brief  duration,  believing  that  it  would  speedily  be  merged  in 
despotism,  or  supplanted  by  the  popular  rule.  His  prophecy 
has  been  fulfilled  more  amply  than  he  could  have  imagined — 
fulfilled  in  both  its  alternatives. 

In  one  of  the  controversies  of  that  time,  Cooper  bore  a 
distinguished  part.  The  Revue  Britanniqu-e,  a  periodical  pub 
lished  in  Paris,  boldly  affirmed  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  be  one  of  the  most  expensive  in  the  world,  and  its 
people  among  the  most  heavily  taxed  of  mankind.  This  as- 


55 

sertion  was  supported  with  a  certain  show  of  proof,  and  the 
writer  affected  to  have  established  the  conclusion  that  a  re 
public  must  necessarily  be  more  expensive  than  a  monarchy. 
The  partisans  of  the  court  were  delighted  with  the  reasoning 
of  the  article,  and  claimed  a  triumph  over  our  ancient  friend 
La  Fayette,  who,  during  forty  years,  had  not  ceased  to  hold 
up  the  government  of  the  United  States  as  the  cheapest  in  the 
world.  At  the  suggestion  of  La  Fayette,  Cooper  replied  to 
this  attack  upon  his  country,  in  a  letter  which  was  translated 
into  French,  and  together  with  another  from  General  Ber- 
trand,  for  many  years  a  resident  in  America,  was  laid  before 
the  people  of  France. 

These  two  letters  provoked  a  shower  of  rejoinders,  in 
which,  according  to  Cooper,  misstatements  were  mingled  with 
scurrility.  He  commenced  a  series  of  letters  on  the  question 
in  dispute,  which  were  published  in  the  National,  a  daily 
sheet,  and  gave  the  first  evidence  of  that  extraordinary  acute- 
ness  in  controversy,  wrhich  was  no  less  characteristic  of  his 
mind  than  the  vigour  of  his  imagination.  The  enemies  of  La 
Fayette  pressed  into  their  service  Mr.  Leavitt  Harris,  of 
New  Jersey,  afterwards  our  charge  d'affaires  at  the  court  of 
France,  but  Cooper  replied  to  Mr.  Harris,  in  the  National  of 
May  2d,  1832,  closing  a  discussion  in  wrhich  he  had  effectually 
silenced  those  who  objected  to  our  institutions  on  the  score  of 
economy.  Of  these  letters,  which  would  form  an  important 
chapter  in  political  science,  no  entire  copy,  I  have  been  told, 
is  to  be  found  in  this  country. 

One  of  the  consequences  of  earnest  controversy  is  almost 
invariably  personal  ill-will.  Cooper  was  told  by  one  who 
held  an  official  station  under  the  French  government,  that  the 


56  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

part  he  had  taken  in  this  dispute  concerning  taxation,  would 
neither  be  forgotten  nor  forgiven.  The  dislike  he  had  in 
curred  in  that  quarter  was  strengthened  by  his  novel  of  the 
Bravo,  published  in  the  year  1831,  while  he  was  in  the  midst 
of  his  quarrel  with  the  aristocratic  party.  In  that  work,  of 
which  he  has  himself  justly  said,  that  it  was  thoroughly  Amer 
ican,  in  all  that  belonged  to  it,  his  object  was  to  show  how  in 
stitutions,  professedly  created  to  prevent  violence  and  wrong, 
become,  when  perverted  from  their  natural  destination,  the 
instruments  of  injustice,  and  how,  in  every  system  which 
makes  power  the  exclusive  property  of  the  strong,  the  weak 
are  sure  to  be  oppressed.  The  work  is  written  with  all  the 
vigour  and  spirit  of  his  best  novels  ;  the  magnificent  city  of 
Venice,  in  which  the  scene  of  the  story  is  laid,  stands  contin 
ually  before  the  imagination,  and  from  time  to  time  the  gor 
geous  ceremonies  of  the  Venetian  republic  pass  under  our 
eyes,  such  as  the  marriage  of  the  Doge  with  the  Adriatic,  and 
the  contest  of  the  gondolas  for  the  prize  of  speed.  The  Bravo 
himself  and  several  of  the  other  characters  are  strongly  con 
ceived  and  distinguished,  but  the  most  remarkable  of  them  all 
is  the  spirited  and  generous-hearted  daughter  of  the  jailer. 

It  has  been  said  by  some  critics,  who  judge  of  Cooper  by 
his  failures,  that  he  had  no  skill  in  drawing  female  characters. 
By  the  same  process,  it  might,  I  suppose,  be  shown  that 
Raphael  was  but  an  ordinary  painter.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  when  Cooper  drew  a  lady  of  high  breeding,  he  was  apt 
to  pay  too  much  attention  to  the  formal  part  of  her  character, 
and  to  make  her  a  mere  bundle  of  cold  proprieties.  But 
when  he  places  his  heroines  in  some  situation  in  life  which 
leaves  him  nothing  to  do  but  to  make  them  natural  and  true, 


w.    c.    BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  57 

I  know  of  nothing  finer,  nothing  more  attractive  or  more  indi 
vidual  than  the  portraitures  he  has  given  us. 

Figaro,  the  wittiest  of  the  French  periodicals,  and  at  that 
time  on  the  liberal  side,  commended  the  Bravo  ;  the  journals 
on  the  side  of  the  government  censured  it.  Figaro  after 
wards  passed  into  the  hands'  of  the  aristocratic  party,  and 
Cooper  became  the  object  of  its  attacks.  He  was  not,  how 
ever,  a  man  to  be  driven  from  any  purpose  which  he  had 
formed,  either  by  flattery  or  abuse,  and  both  were  tried  with 
equal  ill  success.  In  1832  he  published  his  Heidenmauer,  and 
in  1833  his  Headsman  of  Berne,  both  with  a  political  design 
similar  to  that  of  the  Bravo,  though  neither  of  them  takes  the 
same  high  rank  among  his  works. 

In  1833,  after  a  residence  of  seven  years  in  different  parts 
of  Europe,  but  mostly  in  France,  Cooper  returned  to  his 
native  country.  The  welcome  which  met  him  here  was 
somewhat  chilled  by  the  effect  of  the  attacks  made  upon 
him  in  France,  and  remembering  with  what  zeal,  and  at 
what  sacrifice  of  the  universal  acceptance  w^hich  his  works 
would  otherwise  have  met,  he  had  maintained  the  cause  of 
his  country  against  the  wits  and  orators  of  the  court  party 
in  France,  we  cannot  wonder  that  he  should  have  felt  this 
coldness  as  undeserved.  He  published,  shortly  after  his  arri 
val  in  this  country,  A  Letter  to  his  Countrymen,  in  which  he 
complained  of  the  censures  cast  upon  him  in  the  American 
newspapers,  gave  a  history  of  the  part  he  had  taken  in  ex 
posing  the  misstatements  of  the  Revue  Britannique,  and 
warned  his  countrymen  against  the  too  common  error  of  re 
sorting,  with  a  blind  deference,  to  foreign  authorities,  often 
swayed  by  national  or  political  prejudices,  for  our  opinions 


58  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

of  American  authors.  Going  beyond  this  topic,  he  examined 
and  reprehended  the  habit  of  applying  to  the  interpretation 
of  our  own  constitution  maxims  derived  from  the  practice  of 
other  governments,  particularly  that  of  Great  Britain.  The 
importance  of  construing  that  instrument  by  its  own  princi 
ples,  he  illustrated  by  considering  several  points  in  dispute 
between  the  parties  of  the  day,  on  which  he  gave  very  de 
cided  opinions. 

The  principal  effect  of  this  pamphlet,  as  it  seemed  to  me, 
wras  to  awaken  in  certain  quarters  a  kind  of  resentment  that  a 
successful  writer  of  fiction  should  presume  to  give  lessons  in 
politics.  I  meddle  not  here  with  the  conclusions  to  which  he 
arrived,  though  I  must  be  allowed  to  say  that  they  were 
stated  and  argued  with  great  ability.  In  1835  Cooper  pub 
lished  The  Monnikins,  a  satirical  work,  partly  with  a  political 
aim,  and  in  the  same  year  appeared  his  American  Democrat, 
a  view  of  the  civil  and  social  relations  of  the  United  States, 
discussing  more  gravely  various  topics  touched  upon  in  the 
former  work,  and  pointing  out  in  what  respects  he  deemed 
the  American  people  in  their  practice  to  have  fallen  short  of 
the  excellence  of  their  institutions. 

lie  found  time,  however,  for  a  more  genial  task,  that  of 
giving  to  the  world  his  observations  on  foreign  countries.  In 
1836  appeared  his  Sketches  of  Switzerland,  a  series  of  letters 
in  four  volumes,  the  second  part  published  about  two  months' 
after  the  first,  a  delightful  work,  written  in  a  more  fluent  and 
flexible  style  than  his  Notions  of  the  Americans.  The  first 
part  of  Gleanings  in  Europe,  giving  an  account  of  his  resi 
dence  in  France,  followed  in  the  same  year,  and  the  second 
part  of  the  same  work,  containing  his  observations  on  Eng- 


w.    c.   BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  59 

land,  was  published  in  April,  1837.  In  these  works,  forming 
a  series  of  eight  volumes,  he  relates  and  describes  with  much 
of  the  same  distinctness  as  in  his  novels ;  and  his  remarks  on 
the  manners  and  institutions  of  the  different  countries,  often 
sagacious,  and  always  peculiarly  his  own,  derive,  from  their  fre 
quent  reference  to  contemporary  events,  an  historical  interest. 
In  1838  appeared  Homeward  Sound,  and  Home  as  Found, 
two  satirical  novels,  in  which  Cooper  held  up  to  ridicule  a 
certain  class  of  conductors  of  the  newspaper  press  in  America. 
These  works  had  not  the  good  fortune  to  become  popular. 
Cooper  did  not,  and,  because  he  was  too  deeply  in  earnest, 
perhaps  would  not,  infuse  into  his  satirical  works  that  gayety 
without  which  satire  becomes  wearisome.  I  believe,  however, 
that  if  they  had  been  written  by  any  body  else  they  would 
have  met  with  more  favour ;  but  the  world  knew  that  Cooper 
was  able  to  give  them  something  better,  and  would  not  be 
satisfied  with  any  thing  short  of  his  best.  Some  childishly 
imagined  that  because,  in  the  two  works  I  have  just  mentioned, 
a  newspaper  editor  is  introduced,  in  whose  character  almost 
every  possible  vice  of  his  profession  is  made  to  find  a  place, 
Cooper  intended  an  indiscriminate  attack  upon  the  whole 
body  of  writers  for  the  newspaper  press,  forgetting  that  such 
a  portraiture  was  a  satire  only  on  those  to  whom  it  bore  a 
likeness.  We  have  become  less  sensitive  and  more  reasona 
ble  of  late,  and  the  monthly  periodicals  make  sport  for  their 
readers  of  the  follies  and  ignorance  of  the  newspaper  editors, 
without  awakening  the  slightest  resentment ;  but  Cooper  led 
the  way  in  this  sort  of  discipline,  and  I  remember  some  in 
stances  of  towering  indignation  at  his  audacity  expressed  in 
the  journals  of  that  time. 


CO 


THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 


Hie  next  year  Cooper  made  his  appearance  before  the 
public  in  a  new  department  of  writing ;  his  Naval  History  of 
the  United  States  was  brought  out  in  two  octavo  volumes  at 
Philadelphia,  by  Carey  &  Lea.  In  writing  his  stories  of  the 
sea,  his  attention  had  been  much  turned  to  this  subject,  and 
his  mind  filled  with  striking  incidents  from  expeditions  and 
battles  in  which  our  naval  commanders  had  been  engaged. 
This  made  his  task  the  lighter,  but  he  gathered  his  materials 
with  great  industry,  and  with  a  conscientious  attention  to  ex 
actness,  for  he  was  not  a  man  to  take  a  fact  for  granted,  or 
allow  imagination  to  usurp  the  place  of  inquiry.  He  digested 
our  naval  annals  into  a  narrative,  written  with  spirit,  it  is  true, 
but  with  that  air  of  sincere  dealing  which  the  reader  willingly 
takes  as  a  pledge  of  its  authenticity. 

An  abridgment  of  the  work  was  afterwards  prepared  and 
published  by  the  author.  The  Edinburgh  Review,  in  an  arti 
cle  professing  to  examine  the  statements  both  of  Cooper's 
work  and  of  The  History  of  the  English  Navy,  written  by 
Mr.  James,  a  surgeon  by  profession,  made  a  violent  attack 
upon  the  American  historian.  Unfortunately,  it  took  James's 
narrative  as  its  sole  guide,  and  followed  it  implicitly.  Cooper 
replied  in  the  Democratic  Review  for  January,  1840,  and  by 
a  masterly  analysis  of  his  statements,  convicting  James  of 
self-contradiction  in  almost  every  particular  in  which  he  dif 
fered  from  himself,  refuted  both  James  and  the  reviewer. 
It  was  a  refutation  which  admitted  of  no  rejoinder. 

Scarce  any  thing  in  Cooper's  life  was  so  remarkable,  or  so 
strikingly  illustrated  his  character,  as  his  contest  with  the 
newspaper  press.  He  engaged  in  it  after  provocations,  many 


w.   c.   BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  61 

and  long  endured,  and  prosecuted  it  through  years  with  great 
energy,  perseverance,  and  practical  dexterity,  till  he  was  left 
master  of  the  field.  In  what  I  am  about  to  say  of  it,  I  hope  I 
shall  not  give  offence  to  any  one,  as  I  shall  speak  without  the 
slightest  malevolence  towards  those  with  whom  he  waged  this 
controversy.  Over  some  of  them,  as  over  their  renowned  ad 
versary,  the  grave  has  now  closed.  Yet  where  shall  the  truth 
be  spoken,  if  not  beside  the  grave  1 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  principal  causes  which  pro 
voked  the  newspaper  attacks  upon  Cooper.  If  he  had  never 
meddled  with  questions  of  government  on  either  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  and  never  satirized  the  newspaper  press,  I  have  little 
doubt  that  he  would  have  been  spared  these  attacks.  I  can 
not,  however,  ascribe  them  all,  or  even  the  greater  part  of 
them,  to  personal  malignity.  One  journal  followed  the  ex 
ample  of  another,  with  little  reflection,  I  think,  in  most  cases, 
till  it  became  a  sort  of  fashion,  not  merely  to  decry  his 
works,  but  to  arraign  his  motives. 

It  is  related  that,  in  1832,  while  he  was  at  Paris,  an  article 
was  shown  him  in  an  American  newspaper,  purporting  to  be 
a  criticism  on  one  of  his  works,  but  reflecting  with  much  as 
perity  on  his  personal  character.  "  I  care  nothing,"  he  is  re 
ported  to  have  said,  "  for  the  criticism,  but  I  am  not  indiffer 
ent  to  the  slander.  If  these  attacks  on  my  character  should 
be  kept  up  five  years  after  my  return  to  America,  I  shall  re 
sort  to  the  New  York  courts  for  protection."  He  gave  the 
newspaper  press  of  this  state  the  full  period  of  forbearance  on 
which  he  had  fixed,  but  finding  that  forbearance  seemed  to  en 
courage  assault,  he  sought  redress  in  the  courts  of  law. 

When   these  litigations   were   first   begun.  I  recollect  it 


62  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

seemed  to  me  that  Cooper  had  taken  a  step  which  would  give 
him  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  effect  but  little  good.  I  said 
to  myself — 

"  Alas !  Leviathan  is  not  so  tamed  !" 

As  he  proceeded,  however,  I  saw  that  he  had  understood  the 
matter  better  than  I.  He  put  a  hook  into  the  nose  of  this 
huge  monster,  wallowing  in  his  inky  pool  and  bespattering 
the  passers-by ;  he  dragged  him  to  the  land  and  made  him 
tractable.  One  suit  followed  another ;  one  editor  was  sued, 
I  think,  half-a-dozen  times ;  some  of  them  found  themselves 
under  a  second  indictment  before  the  first  was  tried.  In 
vindicating  himself  to  his  readers,  against  the  charge  of  pub 
lishing  one  libel,  the  angry  journalist  often  floundered  into 
another.  The  occasions  of  these  prosecutions  seem  to  have  been 
always  carefully  considered,  for  Cooper  was  almost  uniformly 
successful  in  obtaining  verdicts.  In  a  letter  of  his,  written  in 
February,  1843,  about  five  years,  I  think,  from  the  commence 
ment  of  the  first  prosecutions,  he  says :  "  I  have  beaten  every 
man  I  have  sued,  who  has  not  retracted  his  libels." 

In  one  of  these  suits,  commenced  against  the  late  William 
L.  Stone,  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  and  referred  to  the 
arbitration  of  three  distinguished  lawyers,  he  argued,  himself, 
the  question  of  the  authenticity  of  his  account  of  the  battle  of 
Lake  Erie,  which  was  the  matter  in  dispute.  I  listened  to  his 
opening ;  it  wras  clear,  skilful,  and  persuasive,  but  his  closing 
argument  was  said  to  be  splendidly  eloquent.  "  I  have  heard 
nothing  like  it,"  said  a  barrister  to  me,  "  since  the  days  of 
Emmet." 

Cooper  behaved  liberally  towards  his  antagonists,  so  far 


63 

as  pecuniary  damages  were  concerned,  though  some  of  them 
wholly  escaped  their  payment  by  bankruptcy.  After,  I  be 
lieve,  about  six  years  of  litigation,  the  newspaper  press  gradu 
ally  subsided  into  a  pacific  disposition  towards  its  adversary, 
and  the  contest  closed  with  the  account  of  pecuniary  profit  and 
loss,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  nearly  balanced.  The  occa 
sion  of  these  suits  was  far  from  honourable  to  those  who  pro 
voked  them,  but  the  result  was,  I  had  almost  said,  creditable 
to  all  parties ;  to  him,  as  the  courageous  prosecutor,  to  the 
administration  of  justice  in  this  country,  and  to  the  docility  of 
the  newspaper  press,  which  he  had  disciplined  into  good 
manners. 

It  was  while  he  was  in  the  midst  of  these  litigations,  that 
he  published,  in  1840,  the  Pathfinder.  People  had  begun  to 
think  of  him  as  a  controversialist,  acute,  keen,  and  persevering, 
occupied  with  his  personal  wrongs  and  schemes  of  attack  and 
defence.  They  were  startled  from  this  estimate  of  his  char 
acter  by  the  moral  beauty  of  that  glorious  work — I  must  so 
call  it ;  by  the  vividness  and  force  of  its  delineations,  by  the 
unspoiled  love  of  nature,  apparent  in  every  page,  and  by  the 
fresh  and  warm  emotions  which  every  where  gave  life  to  the 
narrative  and  the  dialogue.  Cooper  was  now  in  his  fifty-first 
year,  but  nothing  which  he  had  produced  in  the  earlier  part  of 
his  literary  life  was  written  with  so  much  of  what  might  seem 
the  generous  fervour  of  youth,  or  showed  the  faculty  of  in 
vention  in  higher  vigour.  I  recollect  that  near  the  time  of  its 
appearance  I  was  informed  of  an  observation  made  upon  it  by 
one  highly  distinguished  in  the  literature  of  our  country  and 
of  the  age,  between  whom  and  the  author  an  unhappy  coolness 
had  for  some  years  existed.  As  he  finished  the  reading  of  the 


<)4  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

Pathfinder,  he  exclaimed,  "  They  may  say  what  they  will  of 
Cooper ;  the  man  who  wrote  this  book  is  not  only  a  great 
man,  but  a  good  man." 

The  readers  of  the  Pathfinder  were  quickly  reconciled  to 
the  fourth  appearance  of  Leatherstocking,  when  they  saw  him 
made  to  act  a  different  part  from  any  which  the  author  had 
hitherto  assigned  him — when  they  saw  him  shown  as  a  lover, 
and  placed  in  the  midst  of  associations  which  invested  his 
character  with  a  higher  and  more  affecting  heroism.  In  this 
work  are  two  female  characters,  portrayed  in  a  masterly  man 
ner,  the  corporal's  daughter,  Mabel  Dunham,  generous,  reso 
lute,  yet  womanly,  and  the  young  Indian  woman,  called  by 
her  tribe,  the  Dew  of  June,  a  personification  of  female  truth, 
affection,  and  sympathy,  with  a  strong  aboriginal  cast,  yet  a 
product  of  nature  as  bright  and  pure  as  that  from  which  she 
is  named. 

Mercedes  of  Castile,  published  near  the  close  of  the  same 
year,  has  none  of  the  stronger  characteristics  of  Cooper's  ge 
nius,  but  in  the  Deer  slayer,  which  appeared  in  1841,  another 
of  his  Leatherstocking  tales,  he  gave  us  a  work  rivalling  the 
Pathfinder.  Leatherstocking  is  brought  before  us  in  his  early 
youth,  in  the  first  exercise  of  that  keen  sagacity  which  is 
blended  so  harmoniously  with  a  simple  and  ingenuous  good 
ness.  The  two  daughters  of  the  retired  freebooter  dwelling 
on  the  Otsego  lake,  inspire  scarcely  less  interest  than  the  prin 
cipal  personage ;  Judith  in  the  pride  of  her  beauty  and  intel 
lect,  her  good  impulses  contending  with  a  fatal  love  of  admi 
ration,  holding  us  fascinated  with  a  constant  interest  in  her 
fate,  which,  with  consummate  skill,  we  are  permitted  rather  to 
conjecture  than  to  know ;  and  Hetty,  scarcely  less  beautiful  in 


w.    c.   BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  65 

person,  weak-minded,  but  wise  in  the  midst  of  that  weakness, 
beyond  the  wisdom  of  the  loftiest  intellect,  through  the  power 
of  conscience  and  religion.  The  character  of  Hetty  would 
have  been  a  hazardous  experiment  in  feebler  hands,  but  in  his 
it  was  admirably  successful. 

The  Two  Admirals  and  Winy-and-  Wing  were  given  to  the 
public  in  1842,  both  of  them  taking  a  high  rank  among  Coo 
per's  sea-tales.  The  first  of  these  is  a  sort  of  naval  epic  in 
prose ;  the  flight  and  chase  of  armed  vessels  hold  us  in  breath 
less  suspense,  and  the  sea-fights  are  described  with  a  terrible 
power.  In  the  later  sea-tales  of  Cooper,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  mastery  with  which  he  makes  his  grand  processions  of 
events  pass  before  the  mind's  eye  is  even  greater  than  in  his 
earlier.  The  next  year  he  published  the  Wyandotte  or  Hutted 
Knoll,  one  of  his  beautiful  romances  of  the  woods,  and  in 
1844  two  more  of  his  sea-stories,  Afloat  and  Ashore  and  Miles 
Wallingford  its  sequel.  The  long  series  of  his  nautical  tales 
was  closed  by  Jack  Tier,  or  the  Florida  Reef,  published  in 
1848,  when  Cooper  was  in  his  sixtieth  year,  and  it  is  as  full  of 
spirit,  energy,  invention,  life-like  presentation  of  objects  and 
events — 

The  vision  and  the  faculty  divine — 

as  any  thing  he  had  written. 

Let  me  pause  here  to  say  that  Cooper,  though  not  a  manu 
facturer  of  verse,  was  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word  a  poet ; 
his  imagination  wrought  nobly  and  grandly,  and  imposed  its 
creations  on  the  mind  of  the  reader  for  realities.  With  him 
there  was  no  withering,  or  decline,  or  disuse  of  the  poetic  fac 
ulty  ;  as  he  stepped  downward  from  the  zenith  of  life,  no 


00  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

shadow  or  chill  came  over  it ;  it  was  like  the  year  of  some 
genial  climates,  a  perpetual  season  of  verdure,  bloom,  and 
fruitfulness.  As  these  works  came  out,  I  was  rejoiced  to  see 
that  he  was  unspoiled  by  the  controversies  in  which  he  had 
allowed  himself  to  become  engaged,  that  they  had  not  given. 
to  these  better  expressions  of  his  genius,  any  tinge  of  misan 
thropy,  or  appearance  of  contracting  and  closing  sympathies, 
any  trace  of  an  interest  in  his  fellow-beings  less  large  and  free 
than  in  his  earlier  works. 

Before  the  appearance  of  his  Jack  Tier,  Cooper  published, 
in  1845  and  the  following  year,  a  series  of  novels  relating  to 
the  Anti-rent  question,  in  which  he  took  great  interest.  He 
thought  that  the  disposition,  manifested  in  certain  quarters,  to 
make  concessions  to  what  he  deemed  a  denial  of  the  rights  of 
property,  was  a  first  step  in  a  most  dangerous  path.  To  dis 
courage  this  disposition,  he  wrote  Satanstoe,  The  Chainbearer, 
and  The  Redskins.  They  are  didactic  in  their  design,  and 
want  the  freedom  of  invention  which  belongs  to  Cooper's  best 
novels ;  but  if  they  had  been  written  by  any  body  but  Cooper. 
— by  a  member  of  Congress,  for  example,  or  an  eminent  poli 
tician  of  any  class, — they  would  have  made  his  reputation.  It 
was  said,  I  am  told,  by  a  distinguished  jurist  of  our  state,  that 
they  entitled  the  author  to  as  high  a  place  in  law  as  his  other 
works  had  won  for  him  in  literature. 

I  had  thought,  in  meditating  the  plan  of  this  discourse,  to 
mention  all  the  works  of  Mr.  Cooper,  but  the  length  to  which 

1  have  found  it  extending  has  induced  me  to  pass  over  several 
written  in  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  and  to  confine  myself 
to  those  which  best  illustrate  his  literary  character.     The  last 
of  his  novels  was  The  Ways  of  the  Hour,  a  work  in  which  the 


w .    c.   BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  67 

objections  he  entertained  to  the  trial  by  jury  in  civil  causes 
were  stated  in  the  form  of  a  narrative. 

It  is  a  voluminous  catalogue — that  of  Cooper's  published 
works — but  it  comprises  not  all  he  wrote.  He  committed  to 
the  fire,  without  remorse,  many  of  the  fruits  of  his  literary  in 
dustry.  It  was  understood,  some  years  since,  that  he  had  a 
work  ready  for  the  press  on  the  Middle  States  of  the  Union, 
principally  illustrative  of  their  social  history ;  but  it  has  not 
been  found  among  his  manuscripts,  and  the  presumption  is 
that  he  must  have  destroyed  it.  He  had  planned  a  work  on 
the  Towns  of  Manhattan,  for  the  publication  of  which  he 
made  arrangements  with  Mr.  Putnam  of  this  city,  and  a  part 
of  which,  already  written,  was  in  press  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  The  printed  part  has  since  been  destroyed  by  fire, 
but  a  portion  of  the  manuscript  was  recovered.  The  work, 
I  learn,  will  be  completed  by  one  of  the  family,  who,  within 
a  few  years  past,  has  earned  an  honourable  name  among  the 
authors  of  our  country.  Great  as  was  the  number  of  his 
works,  and  great  as  was  the  favour  with  which  they  were 
received,  the  pecuniary  rewards  of  his  success  were  far  less 
than  has  been  generally  supposed — scarcely,  as  I  am  informed, 
a  tenth  part  of  what  the  common  rumour  made  them.  His 
fame  was  infinitely  the  largest  acknowledgment  which  this 
most  successful  of  American  authors  received  for  his  la 
bours. 

The  Ways  of  the  Hour  appeared  in  1850.  At  this  time 
his  personal  appearance  was  remarkable.  He  seemed  in  per 
fect  health  and  in  the  highest  energy  and  activity  of  his  facul 
ties.  I  have  scarcely  seen  any  man  at  that  period  of  life  on 
whom  his  years  sat  more  lightly.  His  conversation  had  lost 


68  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

none  of  its  liveliness,  though  it  seemed  somewhat  more  gentle 
and  forbearing  in  tone,  and  his  spirits  none  of  their  elasticity. 
He  was  contemplating,  I  have  since  been  told,  another  Leather- 
stocking  tale,  deeming  that  he  had  not  yet  exhausted  the 
character,  and  those  who  consider  what  new  resources  it 
yielded  him  in  the  Pathfinder  and  the  Deerslayer,  will  readily 
conclude  that  he  was  not  mistaken. 

The  disease,  however,  by  which  he  was  removed,  was  even 
then  impending  over  him,  and  not  long  afterwards  his  friends 
here  were  grieved  to  learn  that  his  health  was  declining.  He 
came  to  New  York  so  changed  that  they  looked  at  him  with 
sorrow,  and  after  a  stay  of  some  weeks,  partly  for  the  benefit 
of  medical  advice,  returned  to  Cooperstown,  to  leave  it  no 
more.  His  complaint  gradually  gained  strength,  subdued  a 
constitution  originally  robust,  and  finally  passed  into  a  con 
firmed  dropsy.  In  August,  1851,  he  was  visited  by  his  ex 
cellent  and  learned  friend,  Dr.  Francis,  a  member  of  the 
weekly  club  which  he  had  founded  in  the  early  part  of  his  lit 
erary  career.  He  found  him  bearing  the  sufferings  of  his  dis 
ease  with  manly  firmness,  gave  him  such  medical  counsels  as 
the  malady  appeared  to  require,  prepared  him  delicately  for 
its  fatal  termination,  and  returned  to  New  York  with  the  most 
melancholy  anticipations.  In  a  few  days  afterwards,  Cooper 
expired,  amid  the  deep  affliction  of  his  family,  on  the  14th  of 
September,  the  day  before  that  on  wrhich  he  should  have  com 
pleted  his  sixty-second  year.  He  died,  apparently  without 
pain,  in  peace  and  religious  hope.  The  relations  of  man  to  his 
Maker,  and  to  that  state  of  being  for  which  the  present  is 
but  a  preparation,  had  occupied  much  of  his  thoughts  du 
ring  his  whole  lifetime,  and  he  crossed,  with  a  serene  com- 


69 

posure,  the  mysterious  boundary  which  divides  this  life  from 
the  next. 

The  departure  of  such  a  man,  in  the  full  strength  of  his 
faculties, — on  whom  the  country  had  for  thirty  years  looked 
as  one  of  the  permanent  ornaments  of  its  literature,  and  whose 
name  had  been  so  often  associated  with  praise,  with  renown, 
with  controversy,  with  blame,  but  never  with  death, — diffused 
a  universal  awe.  It  was  as  if  an  earthquake  had  shaken  the 
ground  on  which  we  stood,  and  showed  the  grave  opening  by 
our  path.  In  the  general  grief  for  his  loss,  his  virtues  only 
were  remembered,  and  his  failings  forgotten. 

Of  his  failings  I  have  said  little ;  such  as  he  had  were 
obvious  to  all  the  world  ;  they  lay  on  the  surface  of  his  char 
acter  ;  those  who  knew  him  least  made  the  most  account  of 
them.  With  a  character  so  made  up  of  positive  qualities — a 
character  so  independent  and  uncompromising,  and  with  a  sen 
sitiveness  far  more  acute  than  he  was  willing  to  acknowledge, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  occasions  frequently  arose  to  bring 
him,  sometimes  into  friendly  collision,  and  sometimes  into 
graver  disagreements  and  misunderstandings  with  his  fellow- 
men.  For  his  infirmities,  his  friends  found  an  ample  counter 
poise  in  the  generous  sincerity  of  his  nature.  He  never 
thought  of  disguising  his  opinions,  and  he  abhorred  all  disguise 
in  others  ;  he  did  not  even  deign  to  use  that  show  of  regard 
towards  those  of  whom  he  did  not  think  well,  which  the  world 
tolerates,  and  almost  demands.  A  manly  expression  of  opin 
ion,  however  different  from  his  own,  commanded  his  respect. 
Of  his  own  works,  he  spoke  with  the  same  freedom  as  of  the 
works  of  others ;  and  never  hesitated  to  express  his  judgment 
of  a  book  for  the  reason  that  it  was  written  by  himself;  yet 


70  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

he  could  bear  with  gentleness  any  dissent  from  the  estimate 
he  placed  on  his  own  writings.  His  character  was  like  the 
bark  of  the  cinnamon,  a  rough  and  astringent  rind  without, 
and  an  intense  sweetness  within.  Those  who  penetrated  be 
low  the  surface  found  a  genial  temper,  warm  affections,  and  a 
heart  with  ample  place  for  his  friends,  their  pursuits,  their 
good  name,  their  welfare.  They  found  him  a  philanthropist, 
though  not  precisely  after  the  fashion  of  the  day ;  a  religious 
man,  most  devout  where  devotion  is  most  apt  to  be  a  feeling 
rather  than  a  custom,  in  the  household  circle ;  hospitable,  and 
to  the  extent  of  his  means,  liberal-handed  in  acts  of  charity. 
They  found,  also,  that  though  in  general  he  would  as  soon  have 
thought  of  giving  up  an  old  friend  as  of  giving  up  an  opinion, 
he  was  not  proof  against  testimony,  and  could  part  with  a  mis 
taken  opinion  as  one  parts  with  an  old  friend  who  has  been 
proved  faithless  and  unworthy.  In  short,  Cooper  was  one  of 
those  who,  to  be  loved,  must  be  intimately  known. 

Of  his  literary  character  I  have  spoken  largely  in  the  nar 
rative  of  his  life,  but  there  are  yet  one  or  two  remarks  which 
must  be  made  to  do  it  justice.  In  that  way  of  writing  in 
which  he  excelled,  it  seems  to  me  that  he  united,  in  a  pre-em 
inent  degree,  those  qualities  which  enabled  him  to  interest  the 
largest  number  of  readers.  He  wrote  not  for  the  fastidious, 
the  over-refined,  the  morbidly  delicate ;  for  these  find  in  his 
genius  something  too  robust  for  their  liking — something  by 
which  their  sensibilities  are  too  rudely  shaken ;  but  he  wrote 
for  mankind  at  large — for  men  and  women  in  the  ordinary 
healthful  state  of  feeling — and  in  their  admiration  he  found 
his  reward.  It  is  for  this  class  that  public  libraries  are 
obliged  to  provide  themselves  with  an  extraordinary  number 


w.   c.   BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  71 

of  copies  of  his  works  :  the  number  in  the  Mercantile  Library, 
in  this  city,  I  am  told,  is  forty.  Hence  it  is,  that  he  has  earned 
a  fame,  wider,  I  think,  than  any  author  of  modern  times — 
wider,  certainly,  than  any  author,  of  any  age,  ever  enjoyed  in 
his  lifetime.  All  his  excellences  are  translatable — they  pass 
readily  into  languages  the  least  allied  in  their  genius  to  that 
in  which  he  wrote,  and  in  them  he  touches  the  heart  and  kin 
dles  the  imagination  with  the  same  power  as  in  the  original 
English. 

Cooper  was  not  wholly  without  humour ;  it  is  sometimes 
found  lurking  in  the  dialogue  of  Harvey  Birch,  and  of  Leather- 
stocking  ;  but  it  forms  no  considerable  element  in  his  works ; 
and  if  it  did,  it  would  have  stood  in  the  way  of  his  universal 
popularity,  since,  of  all  qualities,  it  is  the  most  difficult  to 
transfuse  into  a  foreign  language.  Nor  did  the  effect  he  pro 
duced  upon  the  reader  depend  on  any  grace  of  style  which 
would  escape  a  translator  of  ordinary  skill.  With  his  style, 
it  is  true,  he  took  great  pains,  and  in  his  earlier  works,  I  am 
told,  sometimes  altered  the  proofs  sent  from  the  printer  so 
largely  that  they  might  be  said  to  be  written  over.  Yet  he 
attained  no  special  felicity,  variety,  or  compass  of  expression. 
His  style,  however,  answered  his  purpose ;  it  has  defects,  but 
it  is  manly  and  clear,  and  stamps  on  the  mind  of  the  reader 
the  impression  he  desired  to  convey.  I  am  not  sure  that 
some  of  the  very  defects  of  Cooper's  novels  do  not  add,  by  a 
certain  force  of  contrast,  to  their  power  over  the  mind.  He 
is  long  in  getting  at  the  interest  of  his  narrative.  The  prog 
ress  of  the  plot,  at  first,  is  like  that  of  one  of  his  own  vessels 
of  war,  slowly,  heavily,  and  even  awkwardly  working  out  of 
:i  harbour.  We  are  impatient  and  weary,  but  when  the  ves- 


72  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

sel  is  once  in  the  open  sea,  and  feels  the  free  breath  of  heaven 
in  her  full  sheets,  our  delight  and  admiration  is  all  the  greater 
at  the  grace,  the  majesty  and  power  with  which  she  divides 
and  bears  down  the  waves,  and  pursues  her  course,  at  will, 
over  the  great  waste  of  waters. 

Such  are  the  works  so  widely  read,  and  so  universally 
admired,  in  all  the  zones  of  the  globe,  and  by  men  of  every 
kindred  and  every  tongue ;  works  which  have  made  of  those 
who  dwell  in  remote  latitudes,  wanderers  in  our  forests,  and 
observers  of  our  manners,  and  have  inspired  them  with  an 
interest  in  our  history.  A  gentleman  who  had  returned  from 
Europe  just  before  the  death  of  Cooper,  was  asked  wrhat  he 
found  the  people  of  the  Continent  doing.  "  They  are  all  read 
ing  Cooper,"  he  answered ;  "  in  the  little  kingdom  of  Holland, 
with  its  three  millions  of  inhabitants,  I  looked  into  four  differ 
ent  translations  of  Cooper  in  the  language  of  the  country." 
A  traveller,  who  has  seen  much  of  the  middle  classes  of  Italy, 
lately  said  to  me,  "  I  found  that  all  they  knew  of  America, 
and  that  was  not  little,  they  had  learned  from  Cooper's 
novels ;  from  him  they  had  learned  the  story  of  American 
liberty,  and  through  him  they  had  been  introduced  to  our 
Washington ;  they  had  read  his  wrorks  till  the  shores  of  the 
Hudson  and  the  valleys  of  Westchester,  and  the  banks  of 
Otsego  lake  had  become  to  them  familiar  ground." 

Over  all  the  countries  into  wrhose  speech  this  great  man's 
works  have  been  rendered  by  the  labours  of  their  scholars, 
the  sorrow  of  that  loss  which  we  deplore  is  now  diffusing 
itself.  Here  we  lament  the  ornament  of  our  country,  there 
they  mourn  the  death  of  him  who  delighted  the  human  race. 
Even  now,  while  I  speak,  the  pulse  of  grief  which  is  passing 


w.    c.    BRYANT'S   DISCOURSE.  73 

through  the  nations  has  haply  just  reached  some  remote 
neighbourhood ;  the  news  of  his  death  has  been  brought  to 
some  dwelling  on  the  slopes  of  the  Andes,  or  amidst  the 
snowy  wastes  of  the  North,  and  the  dark-eyed  damsel  of  Chile, 
or  the  fair-haired  maid  of  Norway,  is  sad  to  think  that  he 
whose  stories  of  heroism  and  true  love  have  so  often  kept  her 
for  hours  from  her  pillow,  lives  no  more. 

He  is  gone !  but  the  creations  of  his  genius,  fixed  in  living 
words,  survive  the  frail  material  organs  by  which  the  words 
were  first  traced.  They  partake  of  a  middle  nature,  between 
the  deathless  mind  and  the  decaying  body  of  which  they 
are  the  common  offspring,  and  are,  therefore,  destined  to 
a  duration,  if  not  eternal,  yet  indefinite.  The  examples 
he  has  given  in  his  glorious  fictions,  of  heroism,  honour 
and  truth,  of  large  sympathies  between  man  and  man,  of  all 
that  is  good,  great,  and  excellent,  embodied  in  personages 
marked  with  so  strong  an  individuality  that  we  place  them 
among  our  friends  and  favourites;  his  frank  and  generous 
men,  his  gentle  and  noble  women,  shall  live  through  centuries 
to  come,  and  only  perish  with  our  language.  I  have  said  with 
our  language ;  but  who  shall  say  when  it  may  be  the  fate  of 
the  English  language  to  be  numbered  with  the  extinct  forms 
of  human  speech  ?  Who  shall  declare  which  of  the  present 
tongues  of  the  civilized  world  will  survive  its  fellows  ?  It 
may  be  that  some  one  of  them,  more  fortunate  than  the  rest, 
will  long  outlast  them,  in  some  undisturbed  quarter  of  the 
globe,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  new  civilization.  The  creations 
of  Cooper's  genius,  even  now  transferred  to  that  language, 
may  remain  to  be  the  delight  of  the  nations  through  another 
great  cycle  of  centuries,  beginning  after  the  English  language 


74  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

and  its  contemporaneous  form  of  civilization  shall  have  passed 
away. 

Mr.  BANCROFT  rose,  at  the  invitation  of  the  President,  to 
return  thanks,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee,  to  Mr.  BRYANT. 
He  spoke  as  follows : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — The  President  has  assigned  to  me 
the  agreeable  duty  of  rendering,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee, 
their  thanks  to  Mr.  Bryant,  who  to-night  has  so  beautifully 
proved  how  one  man  of  genius  may  do  honour  to  another. 
The  delight  with  which  you  have  listened  is  better  applause 
than  any  words  of  mine,  and  I  am  sure  I  give  expression  to  the 
feelings  of  your  hearts,  when  I  make,  on  behalf  of  my  asso 
ciates,  these  expressions  of  their  gratitude.  But  we  owe  him 
more;  he  has  made  our  effort  successful.  Your  presence 
declares  it  is  successful. 

The  men  of  letters  of  New  York,  overwhelmed  with  grief 
at  the  death  of  their  illustrious  brother,  met  together  to  agree 
on  some  tribute  to  the  genius  of  James  Fenimore  Cooper, 
and,  on  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Irving,  proposed  to  raise  a 
monumental  statue  to  his  memory. 

We  desire  that  this  may  be  done  here  in  New  York,  for 
Cooper  was  emphatically  a  son  of  New  York,  born  in  your 
vicinity,  educated  almost  in  your  midst,  receiving  his  inspira 
tions  among  you,  pursuing  his  career  among  you,  trusting  to 
you  for  that  blame  and  that  praise,  without  which  there  is  no 
literary  success.  His  career  belongs  emphatically  and  pecu 
liarly  to  New  York.  New  York,  too,  is  his  by  conquest ;  for 
what  is  your  domain  ?  The  ocean.  No  steamships  plough 
the  waves  of  the  Atlantic  so  swiftly  as  those  which  go  out  of 


MR.    BANCROFT'S   SPEECH.  75 

vour  harbour;  the  ships  which  you  send  round  the  globe 
have  now  attained  such  mastery  over  the  winds  and  the  cur 
rents  of  the  ocean,  that  their  coming  back  into  your  harbour 
may  be  predicted  almost  to  a  day  with  as  much  certainty  as 
the  return  of  the  seasons.  Cooper,  too,  is  at  home  upon  the 
deep.  No  man  like  him  has  so  commemorated  the  gallant 
deeds  of  our  navy — no  man  like  him  has  so  described  life  on 
the  ocean. 

There  is  another  reason  why  we  call  upon  you  for  your 
sympathy  and  co-operation  in  our  purpose.  Do  not  think  that 
we  come  to  speak  to  you  for  the  men  of  letters  who  come 
after  him — no,  we  speak  only  for  him,  the  first  great  American 
man  of  letters  wrho  has  passed  from  amongst  us.  He  was  a 
forerunner, — one  of  the  very  few  who,  at  long  distances  from 
one  another,  went  before  us.  The  universality  of  education 
among  us,  the  wide  diffusion  of  the  opportunities  of  instruc 
tion,  the  quick  kindling  impulses  of  the  young,  their  enterprise, 
love  of  admiration,  love  of  truth,  and  of  science — all  will 
combine  to  make  the  class  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  the 
pursuits  of  science  and  letters  greater  in  America  than  they 
have  ever  been  in  any  other  country  in  the  world,  in  propor 
tion  to  its  numbers.  I  give  this,  not  as  my  own  idea,  but  as  a 
lesson  which  I  learned  of  the  illustrious  Madison,  who  loved 
the  pursuits  of  a  scholar  more  than  any  other  occupation  of 
life,  and  himself  achieved  high  distinction  as  a  man  of  letters ; 
as  has  been  done  by  the  statesman  who  to-night  presides  over 
this  meeting,  and  who  on  several  occasions  has  in  his  writings 
given  expression  to  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  his  country  hi 
such  massive  English  as  no  one  but  himself  could  rival.  The 
men  of  letters  of  the  coming  generations,  and  the  men  of  let- 


76  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

ters  who  now  live,  must  consent  to  stand  close  together,  like 
trees  in  the  densest  forest;  but  Cooper  dwelt,  as  it  were, 
alone  on  one  of  his  own  prairies.  He  was  the  first  to  people 
the  realms  of  the  interior  of  the  country  with  the  creatures  of 
imagination.  He  was,  as  it  were,  the  first  to  tell  how  the 
Hudson  flows  with  inspiration  to  the  poet ;  and  henceforward 
the  traveller  who  looks  at  the  beauties  of  Glen  Falls  will  see 
the  people  of  the  fictions  of  Cooper  gather  around  him  among 
the  spray  and  the  rocks ;  or  if,  on  the  banks  of  Lake  George, 
he  looks  out  on  the  gorgeous  scenes  wrhich  the  decline  of  the 
sun  presents  to  him,  he  will  find  the  richest  hues  of  evening 
made  yet  more  beautiful  by  the  presence  of  the  creations  with 
which  the  fancy  of  Cooper  has  environed  them.  While  we, 
then,  stand  crowded  together,  we  direct  your  attention  to 
Cooper,  rising  like  the  stately  and  solitary  oak  on  the  plain, 
without  a  rival  or  a  neighbour. 

There  is  another  reason,  the  Committee  instruct  me  to  state, 
why  we  call  on  you  to  erect  a  statue  to  Cooper :  it  is  from 
respect  for  the  genuine  sincerity  and  integrity  of  his  character ; 
it  is  that  he  sincerely  loved  truth  and  honestly  pursued  its 
dictates ;  that  he  never  truckled  to  any  temporary  passion  or 
social  influence,  but  pursued  his  own  career,  as  if  he  feared 
not  to  guide  his  bark  over  the  stormy  waves  of  competition, 
straight  onward  towards  his  end.  It  is  from  the  profound 
and  deep  conviction  of  the  vigorous  character  of  his  intellect, 
the  purity  of  his  life  and  heart,  and  the  manly  genuineness  of 
his  piety,  that  we  invite  you  to  join  in  building  a  monument 
which  shall  hold  him  up  as  an  example  to  the  young. 

We  ask  you,  for  a  moment,  to  forget  the  care,  the  ambi 
tion,  the  brilliant  successes,  and  overflowing  prosperity  of  the 


REV.    MR.    OSGOOD'S   SPEECH.  77 

day,  and  to  live  with  us  in  the  past.  This  beautiful  and  hos 
pitable  city  should  be  the  chosen  home  of  men  of  letters. 
Here  by  the  ocean  side — here  where  there  is  easy  connection 
with  all. the  world — this  commercial  metropolis  should  be,  as 
it  were,  the  eye  to  our  country,  as  Athens  was  to  Greece,  and 
should  rival  that  city  in  respect  for  the  arts,  for  science,  for 
truth,  and  for  whatever  contributes  to  ennoble  and  dignify 
humanity.  And  therefore  it  is  that  we  have  asked  you  for  a 
few  moments  to  forget  the  shadows  of  the  present,  and  to 
gaze  with  us  on  the  realities  of  eternity — to  pass  from  the 
contests  of  to-day,  and  to  join  in  doing  honour  to  him  whose 
great  career  is  already  brought  to  a  close. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  In  your  presence,  in  your  sympa 
thies,  we  read  your  approbation  of  our  design,  and  in  that 
approbation  we  find  a  sure  omen  of  success. 

Mr.  BANCROFT'S  speech  was  received  with  enthusiastic 
cheers,  and  on  its  conclusion  Mr.  WEBSTER  rose  and  shook 
hands  with  him,  amid  renewed  applause.  The  Rev.  SAMUEL 
OSGOOD  being  then  called  upon,  came  forward  and  said : 

I  am  very  sorry,  Mr.  President,  to  say  in  this  assembly 
what  in  sincerity  I  am  obliged  to  say.  This  is  not  the  place 
for  me,  and  when  asked  but  a  few  minutes  since  to  address 
the  audience,  I  positively  declined,  and  your  call  takes  me 
wholly  by  surprise.  We  have  met  together  this  evening  to 
commemorate  the  services  of  a  great  mind  in  our  republic  of 
letters,  and  to  men  of  historical  position,  his  own  peers  in  hon 
our,  these  tributes  to  his  memory  had,  I  supposed,  been  en 
trusted.  Among  such  personages  I  have  no  claim  to  stand,  and 
my  word,  rather  of  apology  than  of  speech,  is  presumptuous, 


78  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

unless  I  take  my  place  as  one  of  the  audience  and  speak  as 
if  for  them. 

One  thought  here  forces  itself  upon  the  hearer  which  needs 
no  studied  words  to  give  it  expression.  After  what  we  have 
seen  and  heard  to-night,  how  can  we  but  speak  our  gratitude 
to  the  leaders  of  our  national  literature  brought  so  near 
to  us  now  by  the  faces  of  the  living,  and  the  memory  of  the 
dead  ?  Honour — all  honours  to  our  chiefs  in  romance,  poetry, 
history,  oratory,  especially  to  such  as  have  adorned  the  stern 
utilities  of  our  country  by  the  charms  of  pure  taste  and  high 
imagination.  We  are  and  have  been  from  the  first  a  practi 
cal  people — too  much  taken  up  with  the  difficulties  of  our  ma 
terial  position  to  find  much  time  or  thought  for  the  beautiful 
arts.  Most  of  us  personally  have  been  obliged  to  struggle 
for  the  means  of  livelihood  and  the  opportunities  of  education. 
Sons  of  farmers  and  mechanics,  and  of  men  of  like  hardy  lot, 
we  have  not  been  trained  in  exquisite  tastes,  or  breathed 
an  atmosphere  of  Attic  refinement.  But,  sir,  we  hear,  and 
always  have  heard,  the  voice  divine  that  calls  us  to  follow  a 
noble  aim  in  all  our  strivings,  and  see  a  lofty  ideal  in  the  midst 
of  our  sternest  labours.  We  as  a  people  have  not  been  want 
ing  in  imagination,  few  as  our  achievements  may  have  been  in 
the  arts  usually  called  imaginative.  Our  destined  material 
thus  far  has  not  been  the  marble  or  the  canvass,  nor  have  we 
put  all  our  aspiration  into  poetry  and  romance.  But  the 
ideal  is  in  us,  and  it  must  come  out.  It  is  working  itself  out  in 
the  whole  energy  of  a  people  now  starting  into  a  great  and 
progressive  nation,  and  making  to  themselves  history  and 
romance  out  of  their  very  growth.  Honour  to  the  illustrious 
man  whose  name  crowns  this  festival — honour  to  him  as  an 


REV.   MR.    os  GOOD'S   SPEECH.  79 

educator  of  the  popular  fancy,  giving  such  beauty  to  true 
heroism,  and  adorning  the  sturdy  virtues  of  our  fathers  with 
the  finest  graces  of  the  affections.  Honour  to  him  for  what 
he  has  expressed,  and  for  what  he  implied.  His  stories  of 
adventure,  his  portraitures  of  rude  energy  struggling  upwards 
into  refinement  and  aspiration,  are  good  emblems  of  the  better 
spirit  of  our  people — cheering  promises  of  the  time  when  our 
plain  utilities  shall  open  into  beauty,  even  as  our  rough  soil 
blooms  into  loveliness  and  fragrance.  But  a  beginning  has 
been  made,  and  it  is  noble  enough  to  promise  an  august  ca 
reer  in  all  the  arts  that  refine  and  elevate  a  nation.  We  have 
been  working  out  our  mind  in  the  hard  school  of  necessity. 
We  have  blocked  out  the  statue  thus  far  but  in  the  rough, 
and  what  it  shall  be,  we  hardly  dare  to  tell.  Yet  form  and 
features  have  begun  to  show  themselves ;  ere  long  the  polish 
will  come,  and  the  Eternal  Spirit  of  Beauty  will  not  refuse  its 
fire,  nor  fail  to  inform  it  with  a  celestial  soul. 

I  am  surprised  to  find  myself  speaking  here  to-night. 
More  words  I  could  add,  were  it  not  that  the  office  belongs 
more  fitly  far  to  others  of  historic  name ;  and  I  must  close 
with  a  single  thought : — It  is  good  to  be  here  at  our  great 
author's  obsequies.  It  is  good  to  meet  on  the  high  and  com 
mon  ground  of  allegiance  to  what  is  best  in  letters,  far  away 
from  party  strifes  and  vulgar  cares.  Let  us  carry  a  worthy 
lesson  with  us  from  this  place.  We  celebrate  now  the  ser 
vices  of  a  man  pure  in  life  as  powerful  in  word.  As  we,  his 
friends,  meet  together,  we  are  as  those  who  bore  their 
torches  at  a  hero's  obsequies  reversed,  to  intimate  how  great 
a  light  has  been  extinguished.  We  will  be  content  to  bear 
them  so  until  this  hour  closes,  but  then  lift  them  bravely 


80  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

aloft;  let  solemn  memories  rise  into  cheerful  hopes;  let 
drooping  regrets  start  up  into  exalted  purposes.  Fidelity  is 
the  best  tribute  to  the  faithful.  A  life  pure,  generous,  Chris 
tian,  true  to  God  and  man,  is  the  noblest  history,  the  most 
winning  romance,  the  divinest  poem. 

The  President  then  called  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  BETHUNE,  who 
come  forward  amid  the  most  cordial  demonstrations  of  satis 
faction  by  the  assembly,  and  said : 

Apologies  at  such  a  time  are,  I  am  aware,  Mr.  President, 
seldom  in  good  taste ;  yet,  lest  the  rough  form  of  my  few 
remarks  should  appear  disrespectful  to  the  audience,  I  must 
say  that  I  did  not  suppose  you  would  call  on  me  this  evening. 
Many  weeks  since,  when  this  meeting  was  first  proposed,  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements  did  me  the  honour  of  asking  that 
I  should  say  a  few  words,  which  my  sincere  admiration  for  the 
character  and  services  of  the  great  man  who  has  gone  from 
among  us,  would  not  allow  me  to  refuse ;  but,  learning  that  so 
many  far  better  qualified  were  to  be  here  to-night,  I  scarcely 
expected  to  be  thought  of.  Still,  sir,  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
man  promptly  to  obey  constituted  authority,  and  I  may  not 
hesitate. 

The  eloquent  gentleman,  who  has  just  addressed  you,  said 
that  we  had  met  to  "  celebrate  the  obsequies"  of  him  who  has 
been  in  all  our  thoughts.  Pardon  me  for  dissenting  from  the 
expression.  We  have  met  to  congratulate  his  spirit  on  its 
immortality.  We  are  not  permitted  to  look  within  the  mys 
terious  veil  which  divides  time  from  eternity,  or  follow  him 
before  the  presence  of  God ;  but  we  know  that  he  died  in  firm 
faith  upon  the  Son  of  God,  our  Redeemer,  the  only  "  way  and 


REV.   DR.    BETHUNE'S   SPEECH.  81 

truth  and  life"  by  whom  we  can  "  come  unto  the  Father."  In 
those  almighty,  just,  and  merciful  hands  we  can  leave  him ; 
but,  while  we  mourn  the  departure  of  his  generous  works  on 
earth,  it  is  our  comfort  and  joy  to  know  that  his  mind  lives 
for  us  and  for  all  posterity  in  his  imperishable  pages.  If  we 
may  not  hear  fresh  oracles  of  wisdom  and  truth  from  his  once 
Indefatigable  pen,  those  which  he  has  uttered  remain  with  us 
ever  precious  and  affectionately  cherished.  It  is  now  our  de 
sire  to  erect  a  memorial  of  our  gratitude  for  so  rich  a  legacy. 
The  fame  of  Cooper  needs  no  artificial  monument ;  with  his 
own  hand  has  he  engraved  it  on  the  magic  scenery  of  our 
country,  and  interwoven  it  with  the  legends  of  our  history : 


"  Call  it  not  vain ;  they  do  not  err, 

Who  say,  that,  when  a  poet  dies, 
Mute  nature  mourns  her  worshipper 

And  celebrates  his  obsequies  ; 
Who  say,  tall  cliff  and  cavern  lone 
For  the  departed  bard  make  moan ; 
That  mountains  weep  in  crystal  rill ; 
And  flowers  in  tears  of  balm  distill ; 
Through  his  loved  groves  the  breezes  sigh, 
And  oaks  in  deeper  groans  reply ; 
And  rivers  teach  their  rushing  wave 
To  murmur  dirges  round  his  grave. 

"  Not  that,  in  sooth,  o'er  mortal  urn 
Such  things  inanimate  can  mourn ; 
But  that  the  stream,  the  wood,  the  gale 
Is  vocal  with  the  plaintive  wail 
Of  those,  who,  else  forgotten  long, 
Live  in  the  poet's  faithful  song, 
And,  in  the  poet's  parting  breath, 
Whose  memory  feels  a  second  death." 


Our  Cooper  was  not  a  poet  in  the  melody  of  rhythm  or  the 
responses  of  rhyme,  but  eminently  one   in   the  faculty  of 


82  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

throwing  the  charms  of  imagination  around  rugged  realities, 
and  of  elevating  the  soul  with  noble  sentiments.  Who  with 
any  sense  of  poetry  could  read  the  "  Prairie"  and  not  feel 
that  he  was  entranced  by  a  poet's  spell !  He  was  a  true 
poet,  and,  if  we  had  the  spiritual  perception  of  him  whose  lines 
I  have  just  repeated,  we  should  be  conscious  of  a  mourn 
ful  moan  from  out  the  rocky  cliffs  of  the  Hudson,  answered  by 
the  sighing  of  its  sad  waves  along  the  shores  illustrated  by  his 
genius.  There  is  scarcely  a  portion  of  our  land,  or  scene  of 
our  best  history,  or  field  of  the  ocean  cut  by  an  American 
keel,  which  does  not  bear  testimony  to  his  graphic  truth.  But. 
sir,  how  dare  I  attempt  his  eulogy,  after  his  memory  has  been 
crowned  this  night  by  the  classic  hand  of  him,  whom  all  of  us 
acknowledge  the  foremost  representative  of  American  poetry, 
before  an  assembly  of  our  citizens  unparalleled  for  its  combi 
nation  of  numbers,  intelligence,  and  moral  worth,  presided 
over — pardon  me,  sir,  I  would  fain  avoid  the  excess  of  unne 
cessary  compliment,  but  when  I  use  the  briefest  term  must 
pay  the  greatest — presided  over  by  yourself  ! 

My  friend  Mr.  Bancroft  has  said,  (I  cannot  repeat  his  happy 
language,  but  will  reach  his  thought,)  that  we  are  not  here  to 
honour  "  other  men  of  letters,"  the  worthy  compeers  of  their 
deceased  brother ;  but  I  come  out  from  this  assembled  senate 
of  authors  (among  whom  I  have  lawfully  no  place)  to  speak  as 
one  of  the  people,  and  say  that  we  are  assembled  for  their 
honour  as  well  as  his.  We  are  met  to  assure  those  eminent 
men,  who  give  us  the  wise  lessons  of  our  history,  ennoble  our 
thoughts  by  the  highest  flights  of  song,  and  charm  us  with 
ethics  in  the  pure  strength  of  our  Saxon  tongue  made  graceful 
and  tender  through  the  inspiration  of  an  exquisite  sensibility, 


REV.   DR.   BETHUNE'S   SPEECH.  83 

that  we  are  not  ungrateful  for  the  high  benefits  which  the 
Father  of  lights  confers  upon  us  in  their  devoted  services. 
This  is  the  occasion  for  a  precedent  of  admiring  justice  to 
our  men  of  commanding  and  generous  intellect.  It  is  a  sad 
thought,  which  can  be  relieved  only  by  the  faith  that  the  rec 
ords  of  genius  are  imperishable — but  the  present  reality  forces 
it  upon  us — the  men  whom  we  are  this  night  happy  to  look 
upon,  whose  voice  and  pen  are  even  now  contributing  their 
efforts  for  our  delight  and  profit,  must  soon  pass  away.  We 
must  have  the  satisfaction  of  assuring  them  by  the  honour  we 
pay  to  the  memory  of  their  first-born,  first-departed  brother, 
that,  when  they  are  gone,  they  shall  not  be  forgotten.  No, 
gentlemen ;  (bowing  to  Messrs.  Bryant,  Bancroft,  and  Irving ;) 
go  on  in  the  noble  career  for  which  Providence  has  fitted  you, — 
add  hourly  to  the  inestimable  treasures  already  bestowed  by 
your  hands  upon  your  countrymen  and  the  world ;  and  if  you 
need  a  motive  beyond  your  own  self-gratifying  love  of  doing 
good,  be  assured  that  when  you  (vos  quoque  morituri)  have  left 
us,  we,  who  now  cover  with  tributary  laurels  the  brow  of 
Cooper,  will  follow  your  ashes  with  fond  and  loyal  recol 
lections. 

Yet  our  thanks  should  not  be  expended  in  "winged 
words,"  but  for  the  sake  of  posterity  and  the  mass  of  our 
compatriot  people,  embodied  in  some  enduring,  public 
shape.  Arts  are  kindred  ;  and  among  the  best  uses  to 
which  those  which  imitate  the  visible  works  of  the  Creator 
can  be  devoted,  is  the  preservation  of  their  form  and  features 
who  have  been  benefactors  of  their  country  and  mankind. 
Therefore  would  we,  and  our  purpose  shall  not  fail,  erect  such 
a  monument  to  the  honour  of  this  great  and  good  man,  the 


84  THE     MEMORY     OF    COOPER. 

first,  I  trust,  of  a  long  series,  which  shall  commemorate  his 
contemporaries  and  successors  in  like  dignity.  We  could  not 
fail  to  note,  as  the  orator  of  the  evening,  in  simple  and  elegant 
panegyric,  traced  the  long  catalogue  of  our  Cooper's  writings, 
that  those  which  most  concerned  the  history  and  scenes  of 
his  native  land  and  ours,  were  most  appreciated  and  effi 
cient.  The  classical  nations  of  antiquity  deemed  the  fame  of 
a  hero  or  a  sage  not  complete  until  they  had  inaugurated  his 
statue.  The  capitals  of  modern  Europe  are  crowded  with 
such  enduring  presentments  of  those  whom  kings  delight  to 
honour  as  instruments  of  despotism,  or  for  whom  the  people 
are  permitted  to  testify  esteem  as  friends  of  humanity.  There 
is  scarcely  a  town,  however  small,  without  one  or  more 
statues  of  the  dead  in  its  open  squares.  But,  many  as  are 
the  illustrious  of  our  annals,  you  may  look  throughout  our 
whole  land,  and  (with  some  insignificant  exceptions)  discover 
no  proofs  that  we  can  appreciate  public  services.  Let  us, 
then,  invoke  the  Genius  of  Sculpture,  whose  presence  among 
us  is  so  amply  certified,  to  pourtray  for  the  eyes  of  our  people 
and  their  children  the  lineaments  of  that  form  and  face  which, 
when  living,  were  animated  by  the  patriotic  and  zealous  spirit 
of  Cooper.  Let  it  be  placed,  not  in  a  hall  of  learning,  or  in 
a  retreat  of  the  few,  but  in  the  free  common  air  and  sunlight, 
where  all  may  look  upon  it,  and  learn  fresh  gratitude,  and 
gain  fresh  incentives  to  pursuits  so  honourable  and  so  hon 
oured.  We  have  been  told  that  his  voice  is  now  heard  in 
every  civilized  tongue,  and  we  know,  wherever  it  speaks,  it 
tells  the  story  of  our  national  dignity,  and  teaches  the  maxims 
of  political  wisdom  and  honesty  which  have  raised  us  to  our 
unexampled  prosperity.  Such  are  the  best  contributions  we 


85 

can  make  to  the  freedom  of  oppressed  countries ;  because  they 
show  that,  without  a  popular  love  of  justice  and  union,  arms 
and  blood  are  powerless  to  achieve  liberty.  The  world  has 
admired  our  Cooper  as  a  man  of  genius ;  let  them  see  that  his 
countrymen  love  him  as  a  wise  champion  of  political  truth, 
and  a  faithful  citizen.  Without  love,  which  our  God  has 
ordained  to  be  the  sole  sufficient  spring  of  all  duty,  virtue  is 
but  a  name ;  and  without  patriotism,  (the  scoff  of  knaves, 
but  the  admiration  of  the  good,)  our  citizenship  will  be  hypoc 
risy.  Let  us  cherish  this  grand  virtue  ;  let  us  teach  it  to  pos 
terity  ;  and,  by  public  respect  to  the  memory  of  those,  who, 
like  Cooper,  have  served  earnestly  under  the  institutions 
which  educated  them,  conserve  our  self-respect,  and  show  our 
thankfulness  for  our  wide,  rich  land,  our  unequalled  constitu 
tion,  and  the  union  of  these  States,  the  bond  of  their  security. 

Mr.  WEBSTER  next  introduced  Mr.  G.  P.  R.  JAMES,  who 
was  received  with  loud  and  continued  cheers.  He  spoke  as 
follows : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — It  is  only  this  very  moment  that 
I  have  had  the  first  intimation  that  I  would  be  called  upon  to 
address  you.  But  it  is  not  for  me,  an  Englishman — and 
being  proud  of  being  an  Englishman — it  is  not  for  me,  a 
romance  writer — and  proud  to  be  a  romance  writer — it  is  not 
for  me,  a  man  of  the  people — and  proud  to  be  a  man  of  the 
people — to  refuse  my  humble  tribute  to  an  American  ro 
mance  writer,  and  a  man  of  the  people.  But  all  that  I 
could  have  said  has  been  taken  from  me  by  the  speakers 
who  preceded  me.  What  can  I  add  after  the  speeches 
of  such  men  as  the  President  of  this  assembly,  of  my 


86  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

honourable  friend  Mr.  Bancroft,  and  of  the  reverend  gen 
tlemen  who  have  addressed  you,  and  after  the  oration  of 
Mr.  Bryant  himself?  What  can  I  say  after  the  language  of 
him  whose  massy  eloquence,  like  the  writings  of  him  whose 
memory  we  have  met  to  commemorate,  have  gone  all 
over  the  civilized  world  1  Little  has  been  left  to  me  but  to 
correct  a  mistake  relative  to  a  person  of  the  same  name  as 
my  own.  In  alluding  to  Mr.  James,  as  an  opponent  of  Mr. 
Cooper,  Mr.  Bryant  called  him  a  veterinary  surgeon.  That 
gentleman  was  no  connection  of  mine,  and  I  never  saw  him  ; 
but  I  know  he  was  not  a  veterinary,  but  a  naval  surgeon,  and 
the  two  professions  cannot  be  combined,  unless  by  that  pe 
culiar  animal  called  a  "horse  marine."  Another  motive  I 
had  in  responding  to  your  call,  was  to  add  my  tribute  to  an 
American  author,  and  upon  this  point  little  is  left  me  to 
say.  I  am  only  like  a  judge  at  the  end  of  a  trial,  when  ad 
dressing  the  jury  after  the  witnesses  have  been  all  examined ; 
though  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  much  of  a  judge  in  literature. 
I  will,  however,  sum  up  as  best  I  can ;  and  I  ask,  to  what 
is  it  that  you  are  about  to  erect  a  statue1?  Is  it  simply 
to  a  novelist  ?  No,  no,  no — far  more  than  that.  It  is  to 
genius,  whose  triumphs  are  as  far  superior  to  those  of  the 
military  man,  as  mind  is  superior  to  matter — as  the  power 
that  can  sway  millions  is  to  that  which  can  slay  hundreds  of 
thousands.  But  is  this  all  1  No !  far  from  it.  It  is  a  statue 
to  truth — straightforward  truth — truth,  worthy  of  more  stat 
ues  than  were  ever  raised  to  it.  Is  it  to  truth  alone  ?  No ; 
but  to  truth,  genius,  and  patriotism  combined.  I  say  he 
was  a  patriot  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  for,  though 
he  spent  a  considerable  part  of  his  life  out  of  this  great 


DR.   FRANCIS'S   SPEECH.  87 

land,  he  was  every  where  an  American — true  to  his  country, 
and  true  to  himself.  With  this  summing  up,  I  would  ask  if 
there  is  any  man  or  any  woman  (and  woman's  voice  is  more 
powerful  to  plead  than  man's) — I  would  ask,  is  there  any 
one  who  leaves  this  hall  to-night  who  will  not  contribute, 
nay,  who  will  not  use  every  exertion  to  procure  contribu 
tions  from  their  friends  and  neighbours,  to  erect  a  statue 
that  will  go  down  to  posterity  as  a  testimony  of  your  rever 
ence  for  genius,  truth,  and  patriotism  1 

On  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  JAMES'S  speech,  Mr.  WEBSTER 
said,  I  perceive  among  the  gentlemen  around  me,  the  familiar 
face  of  an  old  friend,  who  was  personally  well  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Cooper,  and  was,  I  believe,  his  physician :  will  Dr. 
Francis  offer  any  remarks  on  the  subject  of  this  evening's 
consideration  1 

Dr.  FRANCIS  said,  I  did  not  expect,  Mr.  President,  to  be 
called  upon  this  evening  to  say  any  thing  in  behalf  of  the 
measures  which  the  Committee  contemplate  in  honour  of  the 
memory  of  Mr.  Cooper.  But  I  am  fortified  in  the  attempt  to 
say  a  word  or  two  on  the  subject,  in  being  requested  by  high 
authority,  and  a  knowledge  that  the  call  is  constitutional. 
Ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  learned  President  has  correctly  in. 
formed  you  that  I  was  an  early  friend  of  Fenimore  Cooper. 
It  is  more  than  thirty  years  since  I  first  became  acquainted 
with  him.  I  have  seen  him  in  the  private  room,  in  the  public 
hall,  and  at  the  meetings  of  the  many ;  I  have  seen  him  in  the 
highest  flights  of  his  genius,  at  the  table  where  numerous 
friends  were  convened  together ;  I  have  heard  him  converse 
on  national  affairs,  and  descant  upon  the  literature  of  his 


THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

country ;  have  listened  to  his  disquisitions  on  that  monster  of 
the  ocean,  the  Kraken,  and  dwell,  with  the  enthusiasm  of  old 
Walton,  on  trout-fishing,  and  the  Otsego  bass.  I,  therefore, 
believe  I  have  been  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Cooper,  and  I  do  not  think  that  the  gentlemen  who  have  hon 
oured  us  with  their  observations  this  evening,  have  in  the  least 
degree  erred  in  w^hat  they  have  said  concerning  his  talents,  his 
patriotism,  his  disinterestedness,  his  love  of  truth,  or  any  of 
the  great  qualities  that  made  up  his  character ;  and  I  will  add, 
that  in  the  course  of  a  long  life,  I  have  never  known  any  gen 
tleman  more  intrepid,  more  self-possessed,  or  more  honoura 
ble  in  all  his  dealings.  The  Committee  of  his  friends  will,  I 
hope,  be  able  to  erect  a  suitable  monument  to  him. 

Besides  his  great  abilities,  he  was  also  a  friend  to  true 
Christianity.  One  of  his  leading  maxims  in  life  was,  that 
fiscal  integrity  was  a  brilliant  jewel  in  the  coronet  of  the 
Christian  professor.  He  was  well  aware,  during  his  sickness, 
of  his  approaching  end ;  but  then  he  had  the  consolation  of 
knowing  that  he  had  never,  through  life,  written  one  line 
which  he  would  wish  to  blot.  I  believe  that  principles  of  a 
more  elevated  and  genuine  morality  cannot  be  found  in  all 
the  pages  of  literature,  than  in  those  of  James  Fenimore 
Cooper.  There  was  no  compromise,  no  half-and-half  way  with 
him  ;  all  was  truthful  and  sternly  honest.  It  was  his  love  of 
honesty  that  caused  me  to  admire  him.  To  the  Christian 
world  I  may  say,  he  was  much  engaged  in  studies  of  a  re 
ligious  nature ;  he  was  not  merely  a  novelist,  a  writer  of 
naval  history,  and  of  biography,  but  he  was  also  a  theologian, 
and  wrote  on  theological  subjects  with  extraordinary  talent 
and  erudition.  He  was  imbued  with  polemical  controversy  ; 


DR.    FRANCIS'S   SPEECH.  89 

he  had  read  the  old  divines,  and  was  acquainted  with  the  his 
tory  of  religious  creeds ;  he  knew  the  bearings  of  political 
and  religious  institutions  ;  he  was  connected  with  the  Protest 
ant  Episcopal  Church,  and  he  died  in  the  full  belief  of  a  future 
state  and  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  I  mention  these 
things,  that  there  may  not  be  a  doubt  on  the  minds  of  the 
people  in  relation  to  the  character  of  our  late  friend.  I  am 
gratified  with  all  I  have  heard  to-night;  this  is  the  highest 
compliment  he  could  receive,  and  half-a-dozen  times  it  has 
crossed  my  mind,  Would  it  be  possible  to  find  such  an  en 
lightened  body,  so  large  a  mass  of  intelligence  and  respecta 
bility,  to  give  honour  to  any  but  a  most  truly  great  man  ? 

During  my  sojourn  abroad,  I  met,  by  accident,  a  young 
Englishman,  who,  having  learned  that  I  was  an  American,  in 
formed  me  that  he  had  travelled  quite  extensively  through 
the  States.  "  A  great  country,  indeed,  sir,"  added  he,  "  but 
what  has  most  struck  me  is,  that  I  have  not  found  in  all  your 
land  a  single  conspicuous  memorial  of  the  dead ;  you  have 
no  galleries  of  paintings,  no  columns,  no  statues ;  you  have 
no  Westminster  Abbey  for  the  repose  of  illustrious  characters. 
I  suppose,  however,  that  with  your  rapid  progress  this  de 
fect  will  in  time  be  remedied,  at  least  when  you  can  boast  of 
having  produced  great  men."  As  he  uttered  half  truth,  I 
made  no  reply  ;  my  feelings  were  mortified.  Our  friend  on 
my  right,  the  distinguished  novelist,  Mr.  James,  too,  lately  told 
us  in  a  public  address,  that  he  had  in  vain  during  his  exten 
sive  travels  through  our  country,  cast  his  eyes  about  for  any 
tablet  or  statue  commemorative  of  our  Franklin,  the  Ameri 
can  Solon.  The  painful  truth  perpetually  strikes  us,  that  we 
have  been  negligent  in  the  extreme  of  a  proper  reverence  for 


90  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

the  memories  of  the  noble  sons  of  our  soil ;  and  I  may  add, 
iii  confirmation  of  this  debasing  fact,  that  perhaps  of  the 
whole  audience  now  assembled  in  this  hall,  so  interested  this 
night  in  our  proceedings,  so  cultivated  and  so  refined  in  their 
characters,  scarcely  half-a-dozen  can  be  found  who  are  able 
to  tell  us  where  repose  the  mortal  remains  of  our  illustrious 
Fulton !  With  what  eloquence,  in  behalf  of  the  present 
undertaking  of  the  Committee,  do  these  circumstances  plead ! 
and  how  earnestly  should  we  labour  to  remove  such  a  re 
proach  from  our  history ! 

I  think  I  see  in  your  countenances  a  desire  to  co-operate  in 
this  honourable  work :  the  majority  of  you  are  of  ripe  years, 
and  you  and  your  children  are  familiar  with  the  writings  of 
Cooper ;  have  been  edified  by  his  ethics,  led  captive  by  his 
imagination,  and  instructed  by  his  truthful  and  admirably  con. 
structed  narratives ;  and  \vhat  adds  to  the  charm  of  his  literary 
productions  is,  that  you  obtain  from  their  perusal  so  just  an 
impression  of  the  moral  attributes,  the  rectitude,  and  the 
philosophy  of  the  author  himself.  You  are  not  called  upon 
to  erect  an  altar  to  an  "  unknown  god ;"  you  are  asked  to 
present  an  enduring  recognition  of  the  vast  excellencies  of  a 
native  citizen,  who,  in  the  fullest  acceptation  of  language,  was 
a  benefactor  to  his  country.  To  be  laggard  in  such  an  enter 
prise,  in  this  age  of  moral  and  intellectual  progress,  when 
man,  by  every  laudable  means,  is  daily  asserting  the  dignity 
of  his  nature,  when  the  written  page  exhibits  a  virtue  unknown 
in  former  times,  when  we  talk  by  lightning,  print  by  the 
steam-engine,  and  paint  by  the  sunbeam,  were  indeed  a  ne 
glect  to  admit  of  no  extenuation.  You  are,  therefore,  with  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  Committee's  views,  enabled  to  ap- 


91 

predate  the  services  you  render  to  the  patriotic  design  of 
erecting,  in  some  public  square  in  this  metropolis,  a  becoming 
monument  to  his  memory.  Let  this  be  done  with  all  conve 
nient  speed ;  let  the  sculptor  now  do  what  many  pens  have 
already  done — add,  from  his  art,  the  expression  of  heart-felt 
gratitude  for  the  true  life  and  pure  fame  of  the  illustrious  and 
noble  deceased ;  so  that  posterity  may  behold  the  efficacy  of 
your  faith,  in  the  demonstration  that  shall  promptly  be  made, 
in  response  to  your  liberality. 

I  rejoice  at  the  aspect  the  affair  has  taken,  in  its  origin 
among  us.  I  want  New  York  to  be  first  in  every  thing.  I 
want  this  glorious  city  to  exalt  herself  in  arts  and  in  lit 
erature,  as  she  has  in  commerce,  in  patriotism,  in  devotion 
to  the  Union  of  the  States.  I  love  the  East,  because  it 
produced  Mr.  Webster ;  I  love  the  West,  because  it  pro 
duced  Henry  Clay ;  and  I  might  go  on  in  this  manner, 
and  refer  to  various  parts  of  our  country  for  which  I  have 
also  a  wonderful  liking ;  but  above  all  I  love  my  native 
New  York.  Her  history  is  replete  with  deeds  of  daring. 
So  early  as  1765,  during  her  colonial  vassalage,  liberty 
and  the  rights  of  man  commanded  her  energies  in  council ; 
and  she  delights  to  be  in  advance  in  generous  measures, 
whenever  the  occasion  demands  it.  'Tis  but  as  yesterday 
that  one  of  her  enlightened  citizens,  by  his  own  private 
munificence,  carried  out  the  Arctic  Polar  Expedition,  in 
search  of  the  long-lost  Capt.  Sir  John  Franklin ;  and  I 
am  told  to-day,  that  the  great  project,  by  the  same  distin 
guished  individual,  is  to  be  forthwith  renewed.  Fenimore 
Cooper  is  among  her  famous  sons,  to  the  manor  born ;  and 
here  you  have  an  opportunity  to  take  the  first  step  for  the 


92  THE     MEM  Oil  Y     OF     COOPER. 

erection  of  a  monument  to  the  great  New  York  author.  As 
he  is  among  the  first  of  our  literary  men  who  have  passed 
away,  so  also  will  this  be  the  first  measure  to  stamp  our 
esteem  of  the  merits  of  the  literary  character.  God  bless 
the  undertaking ;  may  you  go  on  to  aid  it  further,  nor  desist 
till  the  goodly  work  is  accomplished. 


Mr.  WEBSTER  closed  the  meeting  with  a  short  address. 
He  remarked : 

It  has  been  said  with  great  truth  by  a  profound  philosopher, 
"  Call  no  man  happy  till  his  death ;"  and  the  reason  I  suppose 
is  to  be  found  in  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  the  changes  of  human 
feelings,  and  objects  of  human  pursuit ;  so  that  before  the  end 
of  life  arrives  the  character  itself  becomes  changed — "finis 
coronat  opus." — He,  in  honour  of  whose  memory  we  are 
assembled,  has  accomplished  his  career  of  human  existence ; 
"  after  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well."  His  character  is  ac 
complished  and  remains  itself  a  monument.  The  perturbations 
of  life  cannot  affect  him,  and  the  question  is,  what  of  value  has 
he  left  to  his  country  1 

You  all  remember  the  eloquent  and  ingenious  funeral  ora 
tion  of  Mark  Antony  over  the  body  of  Julius  Caesar.  Antony 
presented  what  he  called  the  will  of  Caesar,  by  which,  as  An 
tony  proclaimed,  he  made  the  Roman  people  his  heirs.  Giving 
to  every  man  so  many  drachms,  and  to  the  whole 

"  his  walks. 

His  private  arbours,  and  new-planted  orchards, 
On  this  side  Tyber ;  he  hath  left  them  you, 
And  to  your  heirs  for  ever  ;  common  pleasures 
To  walk  abroad,  and  recreate  yourselves." 


It  would  have  been  better  if  Caesar  could  have  made  a 
legacy  to  the  Roman  people  of  the  example  of  a  pure  and 
spotless  character.  But  the  possessions  which  he  left  them 
were  the  result  of  war,  conscription,  and  rapine ;  they  were 
wrung  from  oppressed  provinces.  They  were  valuable,  it  is 
true,  in  themselves,  but  their  origin  was  lawless,  and  their 
uses  temporary  and  perishable.  Could  Caesar  have  bestowed 
on  the  Roman  people  ten  times  the  wealth  he  possessed, 
what  would  it  have  been  compared  with  the  imperishable 
legacy  left  by  men  of  letters  to  the  country,  or  the  works 
of  art,  sculpture,  painting,  and  architecture  which  transmit, 
in  a  sort  of  visible  shape,  the  mind  of  one  age  to  that  of 
the  ages  that  come  after  it  ?  The  productions  of  mind  are 
imperishable  while  men  remain  civilized;  and  therefore  it 
is  that  the  reasoning  of  the  understanding,  the  outpourings 
of  the  heart,  and  the  creations  of  the  intellect,  exceed  in 
value  all  the  bequests  which  it  is  in  the  power  of  all  the 
kings  of  the  earth  to  make. 

It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  Fenimore  Cooper,  it  is  due  to 
ourselves,  it  is  due  to  the  country,  that  we  raise  a  monument 
of  our  gratitude  to  one  who  has  left  us  an  intellectual  inherit 
ance. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  now  take  leave  of  you  and  of  an 
occasion  which  has  devolved  upon  me  the  performance  of  a 
most  agreeable  duty. 


94  THE    MEMOEY     OF     COOPER. 


The  following  reminiscences  of  Mr.  COOPER  were  ad 
dressed  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  by  Dr.  JOHN  W. 
FRANCIS,  LL.  D. 

NEW  YORK,  October  1st,  1851. 

My  Dear  Sir : — I  readily  furnish  you  with  such  reminiscences  of  the 
late  Mr.  Cooper  as  occur  to  me,  although  the  pressure  of  professional 
engagements  absolutely  forbids  such  details  as  I  would  gladly  record. 
For  nearly  thirty  years  I  have  been  the  occasional  medical  adviser,  and 
always  the  ardent  personal  friend  of  the  illustrious  deceased ;  but  our 
intercourse  has  been  so  fragmentary,  owing  to  the  distance  we  have 
lived  apart,  and  the  busy  lives  we  have  both  led,  that  the  impressions 
which  now  throng  upon  and  impress  me  are  desultory  and  varied, 
though  endearing.  I  first  knew  Mr.  Cooper  in  1823.  He  at  that  time 
was  recognized  as  the  author  of  "  Precaution,"  of  "  The  Spy,"  and  of 
"The  Pioneers."  The  two  last-named  works  had  attracted  especial 
notice  by  their  widely-extended  circulation,  and  the  novelty  of  their 
character  in  American  literature.  He  was  often  to  be  seen  at  that 
period  in  conversation  at  the  City  Hotel  in  Broadway,  near  Old  Trinity, 
where  many  of  our  most  renowned  naval  and  military  men  convened. 
He  was  the  original  projector  of  a  literary  and  social  association  called 
the  "  Bread  and  Cheese  Club,"  whose  place  of  rendezvous  was  at 
"Washington  Hall.  They  met  weekly  in  the  evening,  and  furnished 
the  occasion  of  much  intellectual  gratification  and  genial  pleasure. 
That  most  adhesive  friend,  the  poet  Halleck,  Chancellor  Kent,  G.  C. 
Verplanck,  Wiley,  the  publisher  of  Mr.  Cooper's  works,  De  Kay,  the 
naturalist,  C.  A.  Davis,  (Jack  Downing,)  Charles  King,  now  President 
of  Columbia  College,  J.  De  Peyster  Ogden,  J.  W.  Jarvis,  the  painter, 
John  and  William  Duer,  and  many  others  were  of  the  confederacy. 
Washington  Irving,  at  the  period  of  the  formation  of  this  circle  of 
friends,  was  in  England,  occupied  with  his  inimitable  "  Sketch  Book." 
I  had  the  honour  of  an  early  admittance  to  the  Club.  In  balloting  for 
membership  the  bread  declared  an  affirmative ;  and  two  ballots  of 
cheese  against  an  individual  proclaimed  non-admittance. 

From  the  meetings  of  this  society  Mr.  Cooper  was  rarely  absent. 
When  presiding  officer  of  the  evening,  he  attracted  especial  considera 
tion  from  the  richness  of  his  anecdotes,  his  wide  American  knowledge, 
and  his  courteous  behaviour.  These  meetings  were  often  signally  char- 


REMINISCENCES     OF     COOPER.  95 

acterized  by  the  number  of  invited  guests  of  high  reputation  who 
gathered  thither  for  recreative  purposes,  both  of  mind  and  body; 
jurists  of  acknowledged  eminence,  governors  of  different  states,  sen 
ators,  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  literary  men  of  foreign 
distinction,  and  authors  of  repute  in  our  own  land.  It  was  gratifying 
to  observe  the  dexterity  with  which  Mr.  Cooper  would  cope  with  some 
Eastern  friend  who  contributed  to  our  delight  with  a  "  Boston  notion," 
or  with  Trelawny,  the  associate  of  Byron,  descanting  on  Greece  and  the 
"  Younger  Son,"  or  with  any  guests  of  the  club,  however  dissimilar 
their  habits  or  character ;  accommodating  his  conversation  and  manners 
with  the  most  marvellous  facility.  The  New  York  attachments  of  Mr. 
Cooper  were  ever  dominant.  I  witnessed  a  demonstration  of  the  early 
enthusiasm  and  patriotic  activity  of  our  late  friend  in  his  efforts,  with 
many  of  our  leading  citizens,  in  getting  up  the  Grand  Castle  Garden 
Ball,  given  in  honour  of  Lafayette.  The  arrival  of  the  "  nation's  guest" 
at  New  York,  in  1824,  was  the  occasion  of  the  most  joyful  demonstra 
tions,  and  the  celebration  was  a  splendid  spectacle ;  it  brought  together 
celebrities  from  many  remote  parts  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Cooper  must 
have  undergone  extraordinary  fatigue  during  the  day  and  following 
night ;  but  nearly  as  he  was  exhausted,  he  exhibited,  when  the  public 
festivals  were  brought  to  a  close,  that  astonishing  readiness  and  skill  in 
literary  execution  for  which  he  was  always  so  remarkable.  Adjourn 
ing  near  daybreak  to  the  office  of  his  friend  Mr.  Charles  King,  he  wrote 
out  more  quickly  than  any  other  hand  could  copy,  the  very  long  and 
masterly  report  which  next  day  appeared  in  Mr.  King's  paper — a  report 
which  conveyed  to  tens  of  thousands  who  had  not  been  present,  no 
inconsiderable  portion  of  the  enjoyment  they  had  felt  who  were  the 
immediate  participants  in  this  famous  festival.  The  manly  bearing, 
keen  intelligence,  and  thoroughly  honourable  instincts  of  Mr.  Cooper, 
united  as  they  were  with  this  gift  of  writing, — soon  most  effectively 
exhibited  in  his  literary  labours,  now  constantly  increasing, — excited  my 
highest  expectations  of  his  career  as  an  author,  and  my  sincere  esteem 
for  the  man.  There  was  a  fresh  promise,  a  vigorous  impulse,  and  espe 
cially  an  American  enthusiasm  about  him,  that  seemed  to  indicate  not 
only  individual  fame,  but  national  honour.  Since  that  period  I  have 
followed  his  brilliant  course  with  no  less  of  admiration  than  delight. 

It  was  to  me  a  cause  of  deep  regret  that  soon  after  his  return  from 
Europe,  crowned  with  a  distinct  and  noble  reputation,  he  became  in 
volved  in  a  series  of  law-suits,  growing  out  of  libels,  and  originating, 
partly  in  his  own  imprudence,  and  partly  in  the  reckless  severity  of  the 
press.  But  these  are  but  temporary  considerations  in  the  retrospect  of 


96  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

his  achievements ;  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  in  these  difficulties  he  in  every 
instance  succeeded  in  gaining  the  verdict  of  the  jury.  It  was  a  task 
insurmountable  to  overcome  a  fact  as  stated  by  Mr.  Cooper.  Associated 
as  he  was  in  my  own  mind  with  the  earliest  triumphs  of  American  let 
ters,  I  think  of  him  as  the  creator  of  the  genuine  nautical  and  forest 
romances  of  "  Long  Tom  Coffin"  and  "  Leatherstocking ;"  as  the  illus 
trator  of  our  country's  scenes  and  characters  to  the  Europeans ;  and  not 
as  the  critic  of  our  republican  inconsistencies,  or  as  a  litigant  with 
caustic  editors. 

It  is  well  known  that  for  a  long  period  Mr.  Cooper,  at  occasional 
times  only,  visited  New  York  city.  His  residence  for  many  years  was 
an  elegant  and  quiet  mansion  on  the  southern  borders  of  Otsego  Lake. 
Here — in  his  beautiful  retreat,  embellished  by  the  substantial  fruits  of 
his  labours,  and  displaying  every  where  his  exquisite  taste,  his  mind,  ever 
intent  on  congenial  tasks,  which,  alas !  are  left  unfinished,  surrounded  by 
a  devoted  and  highly  cultivated  family,  and  maintaining  the  same  clear 
ness  of  perception,  serene  firmness,  and  integrity  of  tone,  which  distin 
guished  him  in  the  meridian  of  his  life — were  his  mental  employments 
prosecuted.  He  lived  chiefly  in  rural  seclusion,  and  with  habits  of 
methodical  industry.  When  visiting  the  city  he  mingled  cordially  with 
his  old  friends;  and  it  was  on  the  last  occasion  of  this  kind,  at  the 
beginning  of  April,  that  he  consulted  me  with  some  earnestness  in 
regard  to  his  health.  He  complained  of  the  impaired  tone  of  the 
digestive  organs,  great  torpor  of  the  liver,  weakness  of  muscular  ac 
tivity,  and  feebleness  in  walking.  Such  suggestions  were  offered  for  his 
relief  as  the  indications  of  disease  warranted.  He  left  the  city  for  his 
country  residence,  and  I  was  gratified  shortly  after  to  learn  from  him 
of  his  better  condition. 

During  July  and  August  I  maintained  a  correspondence  with  him  on 
the  subject  of  his  increasing  physical  infirmities,  and  frankly  expressed 
to  him  the  necessity  of  such  remedial  measures  as  seemed  clearly  neces 
sary.  Though  occasionally  relieved  of  my  anxieties  by  the  kind  com 
munications  of  his  excellent  friend  and  attending  physician,  Dr.  Johnson, 
I  was  not  without  solicitude,  both  from  his  own  statements  as  well  as 
those  of  Dr.  Johnson  himself,  that  his  disorder  was  on  the  increase ; 
certain  symptoms  were  indeed  mitigated,  but  the  radical  features  of  his 
illness  had  not  been  removed.  A  letter  which  I  soon  received  induced 
me  forthwith  to  repair  to  Cooperstown,  and  on  the  27th  of  August  I 
saw  Mr.  Cooper  at  his  own  dwelling.  My  reception  was  cordial.  With 
his  family  about  him,  he  related  with  great  clearness  the  particulars  of 
his  sufferings,  and  the  means  of  relief  to  which  he  was  subjected.  Dr. 


REMINISCENCES     OF     COOPER.  97 

Johnson  was  in  consultation.  I  at  once  was  struck  with  the  heroic 
firmness  of  the  sufferer,  under  an  accumulation  of  depressing  symptoms. 
His  physical  aspect  was  much  altered  from  that  noble  freshness  he  was 
wont  to  bear;  his  complexion  was  pallid;  his  inferior  extremities 
greatly  enlarged  by  serous  effusion ;  his  debility  so  extreme  as  to 
require  an  assistant,  for  change  of  position  in  bed ;  his  pulse  sixty -four. 
There  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  long-continued  hepatic  obstruction 
had  led  to  confirmed  dropsy,  which,  indeed,  betrayed  itself  in  several 
other  parts  of  the  body.  Yet  was  he  patient  and  collected.  That 
powerful  intellect  still  held  empire  with  commanding  force,  clearness, 
and  vigour.  I  explained  to  him  the  nature  of  his  malady ;  its  natural 
termination  when  uncontrolled ;  dwelt  upon  the  favourable  condition 
and  yet  regular  action  of  the  heart,  and  other  vital  functions,  and  the 
urgent  necessity  of  endeavouring  still  more  to  fulfil  certain  indications, 
in  order  to  overcome  the  force  of  particular  tendencies  in  the  disorder. 
I  frankly  assured  him  that  within  the  limits  of  a  week  a  change  in  the 
complaint  was  indispensable  to  lessen  our  forebodings  of  its  ungovern 
able  nature. 

He  listened  with  fixed  attention ;  and  now  and  then  threw  out  sug 
gestions  of  cure  such  as  are  not  unfrequent  with  cultivated  minds. 

The  great  characteristics  of  his  intellect  were  now  even  more  con 
spicuous  than  before.  Not  a  murmur  escaped  his  lips ;  conviction  of 
his  extreme  illness  wrought  no  alteration  of  his  features;  he  gave  no 
expression  of  despondency  ;  his  tone  and  his  manner  were  equally  dig 
nified,  cordial,  and  natural.  It  was  his  happiness  to  be  blessed  with  a 
family  around  him  whose  greatest  gratification  was  to  supply  his  every 
want,  and  a  daughter  for  a  companion  in  his  pursuits,  who  was  his 
intelligent  amanuensis  and  correspondent,  as  well  as  indefatigable 
nurse.* 

I  forbear  enlarging  on  matters  too  professional  for  present  detail. 
During  the  night  after  my  arrival  he  sustained  an  attack  of  severe  faint 
ing,  which  convinced  me  still  further  of  his  great  personal  weakness. 
An  ennobling  philosophy,  however,  gave  him  support,  and  in  the  morn 
ing  he  had  again  been  refreshed  by  a  sleep  of  some  few  hours'  duration. 
I  renewed  to  him  and  to  his  family  the  hopes  and  the  discouragements 
in  his  case.  Never  was  information  of  so  grave  a  cast  received  by  any 
individual  in  a  calmer  spirit.  He  said  little  as  to  his  prospects  of  re 
covery.  Upon  my  taking  leave  of  him,  however,  shortly  after,  in  the 
morning,  I  am  convinced,  from  his  manner,  that  he  shared  my  apprehen- 

*  The  accomplished  authoress  of  "  Rural  Hours." 
s 


98  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

sion  of  a  fatal  termination  of  his  disorder.  Nature,  however  strong  in 
her  gifted  child,  had  now  her  healthful  rights  largely  invaded.  His 
constitutional  buoyancy  and  determination,  by  leading  him  to  slight 
that  distant  and  thorough  attention  demanded  by  primary  symptoms, 
doubtless  contributed  to  their  subsequent  aggravation. 

I  shall  say  but  a  few  words  more  on  this  agonizing  topic.  The  let 
ters  which  I  received,  after  my  return  home,  communicated  at  times 
some  cheering  facts  of  renovation ;  but.  on  the  whole,  discouraging 
demonstrations  of  augmenting  illness  and  lessened  hope,  were  their 
prominent  characteristics.  A  letter  to  me  from  his  son-in-law,  of  the 
14th  of  September,  announced:  "Mr.  Cooper  died,  apparently  without 
much  pain,  to-day  at  half  past  one,  p.  M.,  leaving  his  family,  although 
prepared  by  his  gradual  failure,  in  deep  affliction.  He  would  have 
been  sixty-two  years  old  to-morrow." 

A  life  of  such  uniform  and  unparalleled  excellence  and  service,  a 
career  so  brilliant  and  honourable,  closed  in  a  befitting  manner,  and 
was  crowned  by  a  death  of  quiet  resignation.  Conscious  of  his  ap 
proaching  dissolution,  his  intelligence  seemed  to  glow  with  increased 
fullness  as  his  prostrated  frame  yielded  by  degrees  to  the  last  summons. 
It  is  familiarly  known  to  his  most  intimate  friends,  that  for  some  consid 
erable  period  prior  to  his  fatal  illness,  he  appropriated  liberal  portions 
of  his  time  to  the  investigation  of  scriptural  truths,  and  that  his  convic 
tions  were  ripe  in  Christian  doctrines.  With  assurances  of  happiness 
in  the  future,  he  graciously  yielded  up  his  spirit  to  the  disposal  of  its 
Creator.  His  death,  which  must  thus  have  been  the  beginning  of  a 
serene  and  more  blessed  life  to  him,  is  universally  regarded  as  a  national 
loss. 

Will  you  allow  me  to  add  a  few  words  to  this  letter,  a.reaay  perhaps 
of  undue  extent.  It  has  been  my  gratification,  during  a  life  of  some 
duration,  to  have  become  personally  acquainted  with  many  eminent 
characters  in  the  different  walks  of  professional  and  literary  avocation. 
I  never  knew  an  individual  more  thoroughly  imbued  with  higher  prin 
ciples  of  action  than  Mr.  Cooper :  he  acted  upon  principles,  and  fully 
comprehended  the  principles  upon  which  he  acted.  Casual  observers 
could  scarcely,  at  times,  understand  and  appreciate  his  motives  or  con 
duct.  An  independence  of  character,  worthy  of  the  highest  respect, 
and  a  natural  boldness  of  temper,  which  led  him  to  a  frank,  emphatic, 
and  intrepid  utterance  of  his  thoughts  and  sentiments,  were  uncongenial 
to  that  large  class  of  people,  who,  from  the  want  of  moral  courage,  or 
a  feeble  physical  temperament,  habitually  conform  to  public  opinion, 
and  endeavour  to  conciliate  the  world.  Mr.  Cooper  was  one  of  the 


REMINISCENCES     OF     COOPER.  99 

most  genuine  Americans  in  his  tone  of  mind,  in  manly  self-reliance,  in 
sympathy  with  the  scenery,  the  history,  and  the  constitution  of  his 
country,  which  it  has  ever  been  my  lot  to  know.  His  profession  and 
his  practice  went  hand  in  hand.  He  was  American,  inside  and  out : 
whether  he  discoursed  with  the  elite  at  Holland  House,  London,  or  held 
converse  with  the  hard-fisted  democracy  in  the  Park,  New  York,  there 
was  nothing  tortuous  in  him.  His  genius  was  American,  fresh,  vigor 
ous,  independent,  and  devoted  to  native  subjects.  The  opposition  he 
met  with  on  his  return  from  Europe,  in  consequence  of  his  patriotic, 
though,  perhaps,  injudicious  attempts  to  point  out  the  faults  and  duties 
of  his  countrymen,  threw  him  reluctantly  on  the  defensive,  and  some 
times  gave  an  antagonistic  manner  to  his  intercourse ;  but  whoever, 
recognizing  his  intellectual  superiority,  and  respecting  his  integrity  of 
purpose,  met  him  candidly,  in  an  open,  cordial,  and  generous  spirit, 
soon  found  in  Mr.  Cooper  an  honest  man  and  a  thorough  patriot. 

It  would  constitute  an  article  of  interest  to  the  lovers  of  dramatic 
literature  and  scenic  illustration,  to  notice  at  some  length  the  pleasure 
which  Mr.  Cooper  experienced  in  these  subjects,  both  as  sources  of  in 
tellectual  gratification  and  mental  improvement.  His  taste  was  fully 
awakened  to  the  richest  indulgence  of  the  drama  soon  after  the  arrival 
of  Edmund  Kean,  the  great  tragedian  ;  and  his  subsequent  acquaintance 
with  Charles  Matthews,  the  unparalleled  comedian,  only  served  to  in 
crease  his  estimation  of  the  capabilities  and  influence  of  histrionic 
talents,  when  displayed  by  the  master-workings  of  such  consummate 
actors.  Concurring  circumstances  may  also  have  contributed  to  the 
genial  associations  which  he  cherished  for  the  drama  at  this  particular 
period  of  his  life.  He  had  been  a  student  of  men  and  books ;  it  was 
now  that  he  assumed  the  responsibilities  of  an  author.  His  "Spy," 
published  in  1821,  promised  him  a  wide  reputation:  Kean  had  reached 
our  shores  the  year  before,  and  Matthews  was  in  our  midst  in  1822.  A 
friend  of  Mr.  Cooper,  Charles  P.  Clinch,  had  just  dramatized  with  great 
success  the  Spy,  for  the  Park  Theatre ;  and  "  the  run"  it  enjoyed  for 
many,  many  nights,  could  not  fail  to  add  to  the  immense  popularity 
Mr.  Cooper  was  now  daily  receiving  by  his  new  vocation  as  author. 

Mr.  Cooper  now  became  indoctrinated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  green 
room,  and  not  unfrequently  gave  relief  to  the  more  sober  contemplations 
of  the  closet  by  casting  a  glance  at  the  machinery  of  the  mimic  world 
and  its  prominent  operators.  During  a  memorable  excursion  which  I 
made  to  Albany  with  Dunlap,  Matthews,  and  Mr.  Cooper,  in  the  spring 
of  1823,  I  found  him  abounding  in  dramatic  anecdote  as  well  as  in  the 
more  elevated  associations  which  the  striking  scenery  of  the  Hudson 


100  THE  MEMORY  OF  COOPER. 

brought  to  mind.  Col.  Williams's  theory  of  the  formation  of  that  noble 
river  from  the  inland  lakes,  the  Palisades,  Fort  Putnam,  Andre  and 
Arnold,  were  also  among  the  topics  of  discourse.  The  novel  of  the  Spy 
was,  however,  the  leading  subject  of  Matthews's  conversation,  and  I  have 
not  yet  forgotten  that  on  that  occasion  Cooper  unfolded,  to  Matthews  in 
particular,  his  intention  of  writing  a  series  of  works  illustrative  of  the 
physical  aspect  of  his  native  country,  of  revolutionary  occurrences,  and 
of  the  red  man  of  the  western  world.  Matthews  expressed  in  strong 
terms  the  patriotic  benefits  of  such  an  undertaking,  and  complimented 
Mr.  Cooper  on  the  specimen  which  he  had  already  furnished  in  the 
delineation  of  Harvey  Birch.  The  approbation  of  Matthews  could  never, 
by  any  one  who  knew  him  well,  be  slightly  appreciated.  There  was 
little  of  the  flatterer  in  him  at  any  time ;  he  was  a  sort  of  "  My  Lord 
Lofty,"  who  valued  himself  in  pride  of  opinion,  and  was  not  backward 
in  his  appreciation  of  his  own  judgment.  He  was  an  actor,  it  is  true, 
but  Garrick  and  Cooke  were  also :  that  he  sought  with  devotion  the 
companionship  of  authors  is  elucidated  throughout  his  late  Memoirs, 
recently  published  by  his  wife.  He  told  Dunlap  of  the  great  satisfac 
tion  he  had  in  the  reading  of  his  life  of  old  George  Frederick,  but  it  was 
obvious  he  recognized  a  much  higher  candidate  for  literary  renown  in 
the  person  of  Cooper.  As  I  saw  much  of  Matthews,  from  the  hour  of 
his  first  coming  up  the  glorious  Bay  of  New  York,  during  the  horrors  of 
yellow  fever  in  the  fall  of  1822,  until  his  return  to  his  native  country, 
I  feel  authorized  to  dwell  a  little  on  his  temperament.  He  possessed  a 
strangely  organized  nervous  system,  susceptible  to  the  feeblest  impres 
sions,  whether  of  praise  or  censure,  attention  or  neglect,  indifference  or 
regard.  Though  his  life  may  be  said  to  have  been  passed  amidst  the 
glare  of  multitudinous  assemblies,  whose  approbation,  decided  and  em 
phatic,  was  indispensable  to  the  free  manifestation  of  his  genius,  yet  the 
sensibilities  of  his  nature  found  no  condition  so  congenial  to  his  happi 
ness  and  composure  as  retirement  within  himself,  aloof  from  the  haunts 
of  men,  the  city's  noise,  and  the  bustle  of  occupation.  Hence  it  was  not 
an  unfrequent  event  with  him,  after  the  night's  rapturous  applause  at 
the  Park,  on  leaving  the  theatre  to  proceed  forthwith  across  the  river  to 
Hoboken,  and,  accompanied  perhaps  by  a  friend,  stroll  through  the 
woods  of  that  then  enchanting  spot,  once  hallowed  by  the  perambula 
tions  of  the  arborist,  Micheaux,  and  Wilson,  the  ornithologist,  seek  repose 
in  some  common  farm-house  for  the  residue  of  the  night,  repair  to  the  city 
in  the  morning,  and  be  again  ready  for  the  night's  entertainment.  I  have 
sometimes,  with  the  faithful  Simpson,  joined  him  on  these  occasions ;  the 
roar  of  the  waters  of  the  Hudson  near  his  feet,  the  whistling  of  the  winds 


REMINISCENCES     OF     COOPER.  101 

through  the  beautiful  chestnut  and  plane-trees  round  about  him,  yielded 
harmony  to  his  agitated  mind,  and  exerted  a  recreative  power  on  his  over 
wrought  frame.  No  theriac  would  so  effectually  reach  his  constitutional 
malady  as  excursions  such  as  I  have  thus  alluded  to.  If  occasionally  the 
victim  to  so  sad  a  dejection  of  spirits,  he  was  at  other  times  the  life  and 
soul  of  joyous  communion,  and  the  source  of  the  most  palatable  mental 
relish ;  sound  criticism  on  the  older  dramatists,  and  even  English  litera 
ture  at  large ;  Walter  Scott  and  the  Byronic  age  of  poetry — these  and 
kindred  subjects  were  among  the  topics  of  the  discursive  materials  of  his 
conversation.  Such  an  individual,  of  whom  it,  was  aptly  said  he  was 
Proteus  for  shape  and  mocking-bird  for  tongue,  could  not  but  enlist  the 
feelings  of  Mr.  Cooper ;  and  the  friendship  which  they  contracted  for 
each  other  was  never,  I  believe,  interrupted  during  the  entire  period 
that  Matthews  remained  in  our  country.  Indeed,  I  hardly  know  whether 
I  have  ever  seen  Mr.  Cooper  manifest  so  much  enthusiasm  in  conversa 
tion  with  any  other  person  as  with  Mr.  Matthews,  when  the  occasion  was 
felicitous,  the  subject-matter  of  interest,  and  the  comedian  in  his  happy 
vein. 

I  cannot  assert  whether  Mr.  Cooper  found  in  music  a  solace  for  care 
and  a  cordial  for  spirits  fatigued  by  mental  toil.  His  attendance  on  the 
Italian  music  of  the  Garcia  troupe  would  lead  me  to  an  affirmative  con 
clusion.  From  his  habits  of  observation,  and  his  universality  of  attain 
ment,  I  think  that,  in  common  with  others  of  a  poetic  feeling,  he  must 
have  been  led  by  natural  and  strong  provocatives  to  admire  the  sublime 
strains  of  Mozart  and  Rossini,  when  poured  forth  by  that  peerless  artist, 
Malibran.  Moreover,  I  feel  as  if  it  demanded  a  greater  anatomist  than 
I  am  to  pronounce,  that  a  poet  of  nature  like  Cooper,  with  his  love  of 
elegant  literature,  and  his  admiration  of  the  works  of  the  sculptor 
Greenough,  could  be  constitutionally  made  up  in  proper  proportions 
without  something  of  the  organization  of  Apollo.  The  marble  bust 
of  Mr.  Cooper,  executed  by  David  of  D' Avers,  about  1829,  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  family  of  the  late  Charles  Wilkes,  of  New  York,  his 
early  friend,  is  a  specimen  of  artistic  development  not  unfavourable 
to  the  existence  of  this  special  quality  in  this  distinguished  char 
acter?  I  have  but  few  circumstances  to  enable  me  fully  to  record  how, 
as  a  youthful  author,  he  bore  the  casual  criticisms  which  appeared 
touching  his  early  writings.  As  commendation  was,  however,  their 
usual  characteristic,  they  could  not  but  encourage  his  best  efforts.  An 
exception  to  this  general  approval  of  his  works  appeared  in  a  New  York 
weekly  journal,  called  The  Minerva :  it  was  edited  by  an  English  radical, 
who  had  recently  arrived  among  us,  the  very  season  in  which  the  Pio- 


102  THE  MEMORY  OF  COOPER. 

neers  was  issued.  The  anonymous  reviewer  saw  fit  to  affirm  that  the 
pages  of  Cooper  had  an  immoral  tendency,  and  the  feelings  of  the  yet 
inexperienced  author  gave  utterance  to  vehement  anathemas  as  he  read 
this  foul  aspersion.  When,  however,  he  had  learned  that  the  concealed 
critic  was  one  of  those  who  had  left  his  country  for  his  country's  good, 
and  that  by  his  infidel  and  blasphemous  Avritings  he  had  incurred  the 
penalty  of  the  laws  of  his  native  land,  and  had  only  escaped  the  Old 
Bailey  by  flight,  he  wisely  concluded  that  censure  from  such  a  quarter 
was  actually  praise  in  disguise. 

How  strongly  is  impressed  upon  my  memory  his  personal  appear 
ance,  so  often  witnessed  during  his  rambles  in  Broadway,  and  amidst 
the  haunts  of  this  busy  population.  His  phrenological  development 
might  challenge  comparison  with  that  of  the  most  favoured  of  mortals. 
His  manly  figure,  high,  prominent  brow,  clear  and  fine  gray  eye,  and 
royal  bearing,  revealed  the  man  of  will  and  intelligence.  His  intellec 
tual  hardihood  was  remarkable.  He  worked  upon  a  novel  witli  the 
patient  industry  of  a  man  of  business,  and  set  down  every  fact  of  cos 
tume,  action,  expression,  local  feature,  and  detail  of  maritime  opera 
tions  or  woodland  experience,  with  a  kind  of  consciousness  and  precision 
that  produced  a  Flemish  exactitude  of  detail,  while  in  pourtraying  action 
he  seemed  to  catch,  by  virtue  of  an  eagle  glance  and  an  heroic  temper 
ament,  the  very  spirit  of  his  occasion,  and  convey  it  to  the  reader's 
nerves  and  heart,  as  well  as  to  his  understanding.  Herein  Mr.  Cooper 
was  a  man  of  unquestionable  originality.  As  to  his  literary  services, 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  consideration  in  which  they  are  held 
by  the  almost  countless  editions  of  many  of  his  works  in  his  own 
country,  and  their  circulation  abroad  by  translations  into  almost  every 
living  tongue. 

I  may  add  a  word  or  two  on  the  extent  of  his  sympathies  with 
humanity.  What  a  love  he  cherished  for  superior  talents  in  every  en 
nobling  pursuit  in  life — how  deep  an  interest  lie  felt  in  the  fortunes  of 
his  scientific  and  literary  friends — what  gratification  he  enjoyed  in  the 
physical  inquiries  of  Dekay  and  Le  Conte,  the  muse  of  Halleck  and  of 
Bryant,  the  painting  of  Cole,  the  sculpture  of  Greenough !  Dunlap, 
were  he  speaking,  might  tell  you  of  his  gratuities  to  the  unfortunate 
playwright  and  the  dramatic  performer.  With  the  mere  accumulators 
of  money — those  golden  calves,  whose  hearts  are  as  devoid  of  emotion 
as  their  brains  of  the  faculty  of  cogitation — he  held  no  congenial  com 
munion  at  any  time :  they  could  not  participate  in  the  fruition  of  his 
pastime;  and  he  felt  in  himself  an  innate  superiority  in  the  gifts  with 
which  nature  had  endowed  him.  He  was  ever  vigilant,  a  keen  ob- 


REMINISCENCES     OF     COOPER.  103 

server  of  men  and  things,  and  in  conversation  frank  and  emphatic.  It 
was  a  gratifying  spectacle  to  encounter  him  with  old  Col.  Trumbull,  the 
historical  painter,  descanting  on  the  many  excellencies  of  Cole's  pencil, 
in  the  delineation  of  American  forest- scenery — a  theme  the  richest  in 
the  world  for  Mr.  Cooper's  contemplation.  A  Shylock  with  his  money 
bags  never  glutted  over  his  possessions  with  a  happier  feeling  than  did 
these  two  eminent  individuals — the  venerable  Colonel  with  his  patrician 
dignity,  and  Cooper  with  his  somewhat  aristocratic  bearing,  yet  demo 
cratic  sentiment ;  the  one  fruitful  with  the  glories  of  the  past,  the  other 
big  with  the  stirring  events  of  his  country's  progress,  in  the  refinement 
of  arts,  and  national  power.  Trumbull  was  one  of  the  many  old  men 
I  knew  who  delighted  in  Cooper's  writings,  and  who  in  conversation 
dwelt  upon  his  captivating  genius. 

To  his  future  biographer,  Mr.  Cooper  has  left  the  pleasing  duty 
rightly  to  estimate  the  breadth  and  depth  of  his  powerful  intellect — 
psychologically  to  investigate  the  development  and  functions  of  that 
cerebral  organ,  which  for  so  many  years,  with  such  rapid  succession  and 
variety,  poured  out  the  creations  of  poetic  thought  and  descriptive 
illustration — to  determine  the  value  of  his  capacious  mind  by  the  influ 
ence  which,  in  the  dawn  of  American  literature,  it  has  exercised,  in 
rearing  the  intellectual  fabric  of  his  country's  greatness — and  to  unfold 
the  secret  springs  of  those  disinterested  acts  of  charity  to  the  poor  and 
needy,  which  signalized  his  conduct  as  a  professor  of  religious  truth, 
and  a  true  exemplar  of  the  Christian  graces.  He  has  unquestionably 
done  more  to  make  known  to  the  transatlantic  world  his  country,  her 
scenery,  her  characteristics,  her  aboriginal  inhabitants,  her  history,  than 
all  preceding  writers.  His  death  may  well  be  pronounced  a  national 
calamity.  By  common  consent  he  long  occupied  an  enviable  place — the 
highest  rank  in  American  literature.  To  adopt  the  quaint  phraseology 
of  old  Thomas  Fuller,  the  felling  of  so  mighty  an  oak  must  needs  cause 
the  increase  of  much  underwood.  Who  will  fill  the  void  occasioned 
by  his  too  early  departure  from  among  us,  time  alone  must  determine. 
With  much  consideration,  I  remain, 

Dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

JOHN  W.  FRANCIS. 

REV.  RUFUS  W.  GniswoLD. 


COOPER     MONUMENT     ASSOCIATION. 


105 


AT  a  meeting  of  friends  of  the  late  FENIMORE  COOPER,  held  at  the  Astor 
House  on  Thursday  evening,  March  25,  1852,  Mr.  WASHINGTON  IRVING  in 
the  chair,  on  motion  of  Mr.  GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  seconded  by  Dr.  J.  M. 
WAINWRIGHT,  the  following  gentlemen  were  constituted  the 


(tapr 


President, 
WASHINGTON  IRVING. 

Secretaries, 
RUFUS  W.  GRISWOLD  AND  FITZ-GREENE  HALLECK. 

Treasurer, 
JOHN  A.  STEVENS, 

President  of  the  Bank  of  Comment. 


GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK, 
JOHN  DUER, 
JAMES  K.  PAULDING, 
JOHN  W.  FRANCIS, 
RICHARD  B.  KIMBALL, 
FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS, 
WILLIAM  C.  BRYANT, 
WILLIAM  W.  CAMPBELL, 
CHARLES  KING, 
GEORGE  BANCROFT, 


LEWIS  GAYLORD  CLARK, 
JOHN  A.  DIX. 
GEORGE  P.  MORRIS, 
SAMUEL  OSGOOD, 
CHARLES  ANTHON, 
MAUNSELL  B.  FIELD, 
JONA.  M.  WAINWRIGHT, 
DONALD  G.  MITCHELL, 
J.  G.  COGSWELL, 
R.  STARBUCK  MAYO. 


The  Cooper  Monument  Fund  now  amounts  to  one  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  Committee  appeal  to  the  lovers  of  literature  and  of  our  national 
character  throughout  the  Union,  to  contribute  for  the  increase  of  this  fund 
in  such  sums  as  they  may  deem  proper,  from  one  dollar  and  upwards, 
until  a  sum  is  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  sufficient  to  defray  the  cost  of 


10()  THE     MEMORY     OF     COOPER. 

a  colossal  statue  of  our  great  novelist,  to  be  set  up  in  one  of  the  public 
squares  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Subscriptions  may  be  sent  by  mail  to 
WASHINGTON  IRVING,  President  of  the  Association,  Dearman  Post  Office, 
Westcliester  County,  New  York;  to  JOHN  A.  STEVENS,  Treasurer  of  the 
Association,  Bank  of  Commerce,  New  York,  or  to  any  member  of  the 
Association,  in  New  York.  And  the  following  gentlemen  are  specially 
authorized  to  receive  subscriptions. 


New  York,  GEORGE  P.  PUTNAM. 
Boston,  TICKNOK,  EEED  &  FIELDS. 
Albany,  WEARE  C.  LITTLE. 
Philadelphia,  A.  HART,  and  A. 
Baltimore,  JAMES  S.  WATERS. 
Charleston,  JOHN  RUSSELL. 
New  Orleans,  B.  M.  NORMAN. 
Cincinnati,  II.  W.  DERBY  &  Co. 
•),  PHINNEY  &  Co. 


GEO.  P.  PUTNAM  HAS  RECENTLY  PUBLISHED 
I. 

J.   FENIMORE   COOPER'S  CHOICE   WORKS. 

THE  AUTHOR'S  REVISED  EDITION*. 

Compsrag  %  Sta  feics,  auto  f  eatljcrstarkwg  Series, 

12  wfo.    I2mo.j  cloth,  or  in  various  styles  of  binding. 

THE  SPY.  |        LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS, 

THE  PILOT.  THE  DEERSLAYER. 


KED  ROVER. 

PRAIRIE. 

THE  PATHFINDER. 

PIONEERS. 


THE  WATER  WITCH. 
TWO  ADMIRALS. 
WING  AND  WING. 
WAYS  OF  THE  HOUR. 


"It  was  Cooper  who  first  showed  the  world  how  fruitful  a  source  of  interest  was 
to  be  found  in  the  adventures  of  naval  life  and  in  the  characters  formed  by  it. 
Some  naval  characters  had  been  drawn  by  Smollett,  with  an  excess  of  broad  hu 
mour,  and  in  the  popular  novel  of  De  Foe  we  had  a  sample  of  the  incidents  of  a 
sea  voyage  related  in  a  manner  profoundly  to  fix  the  attention  ;  but  it  was  Cooper 
who  first  gave  us  the  poetry  of  a  seaman's  life,  extracted  a  dramatic  interest  from 
the  log-book,  and  suspended  the  hopes  and  fears  of  his  plot  upon  the  rnanemivring 
of  a  vessel.  He  showed  us  also  what  rich  materials  for  the  delineation  of  char 
acter,  far  beyond  the  province  of  mere  burlesque,  are  to  be  found  in  naval  life,  and 
in  this  novel  of  the  Pilot  created  a  character  which  will  live  as  long— perhaps  we 
are  speaking  a  little  irreverently — as  any  of  those  of  Shakspeare.  He  became  the 
master  and  founder  of'  a  numerous  school  of  writers  of  sea  romances,  who  learned 
their  art  from  reading  the  Pilot,  and  his  other  tales  of  the  sea,  as  the  Italian  paint 
ers  who  came  after  Raphael  learned  of  that  great  master." — Neic  York  Evening 
Post. 

II. 
MISS  COOPER'S  NEW  WORK. 

THE   SHIELD;    A  NARRATIVE. 

BY     THE     AUTHOR     OF     "RURAL     HOURS." 

12mo.     (Inpress.} 


RURAL     HOURS. 

BY     MISS     COOPER. 

±ih  ed.    12mo.    $1.25.    Illustrated  ed.,  $5  cloth.     $7  morocco  extra. 

"  A  very  pleasant  book — the  result  of  the  combined  effort  of  good  sense  and 
go«d  feeling,  an  observant  mind,  and  a  real,  honest,  unaffected  appreciation  of  the 
countless  minor  beauties  that  nature  exhibits  to  her  arduous  lovers."— Albion. 

"This  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  books  we  have  lately  taken  up." — Evening 
Post. 

"This  is  a  delightful  book,  containing,  in  the  form  of  a  diary  or  journal,  the  re 
flections  of  a  person  of  cultivation  and  refinement ;  of  one  who  had  an  eye  to  see, 
and  powers  to  appreciate  the  real  meaning,  the  natural  objects  and  phenomena 
around  her.  The  reader  is  constantly  reminded  of  Gilbert  White's  l Natural  His 
tory  of  Selborne.'  'Rural  Hours'  is  just  the  book  for  the  drawing-room.  Open 
where  you  will,  you  may  find  something  of  interest." — Cambridge  Chronicle. 

IV. 

A    JOURNEY    TO    ICELAND, 

AND  TRAVELS  IN  SWEDEN  AND  NORWAY. 
Translated  from    the    German    of  Ida    Pfeiffer, 

BY  CHARLOTTE  FENIMORE  COOPER. 


RBTU 


HOUR 


RESERVE 

...OM  WHICH  BORROWED 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 
on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 


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MAY  15  1973 

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General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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